M4 Mac and Jo on Vacation
by miss37
Summary: Sequel to "Mac Taylor: Outlaw". Mac and Jo are going to take a cruise together after Mac's ordeal...but is his situation with Melinda Holmes over yet? Will she just let it go that he rejected her? Will she take vengeance?
1. Chapter 1

Jo Danville was in a cab on her way to the airport where she was meeting Mac Taylor. They were about to take their vacation which was a Hawaiian cruise that would depart Los Angeles the next day. They would get their flight here and board the boat in L.A. Jo smiled as she thought of how much fun they would have and she thought of how much closer she and Mac would become…or she hoped they would become. He had been rather reluctant since his ordeal of being held captive and being brainwashed by Melinda Holmes, who had made bail and was living in her luxury castle. Jo thought it was a disgrace that she could do all that to Mac and get away with it. She figured her lawyers would make some sort of deal with the prosecutor and she would not spend one minute in jail.

Mac was just arriving at the airport. He was looking forward to being out on the ocean. He had not been on a cruise in years…he had not been anywhere in years…except that fake trip to Brazil. The doctor had assured him that he had not been there, although in his mind, he felt like he had. He hated the fact that someone had planted false memories in his mind. He had heard of that in forensic psychology but he had never believed it could happen until now.

Jo soon arrived at the airport and went to security and checked her bags. She saw Mac waiting for her when she was done. "Mac," she said with a smile. "Are you excited?"

"I am," Mac replied and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm looking forward to this."

"Me too. I am looking forward to nothing but blue ocean as far as the eye can see and getting over there to Hawaii where there's tropical drinks and sun and sand and just…Oh, this is going to be wonderful."

Mac smiled at Jo's description. "You have quite a way with words."

Jo looked at him. "My mother always said that."

They walked down to the right gate and sat down. Jo looked out the window. "At least it's not cloudy," she said.

"I don't think it's going to be cloudy for a while," Mac said.

"You never know what we'll run into over in the middle of the country. There can always be something brewing over there."

"Maybe not."

"Are you nervous about flying?"

"No, not really. I was for a long time but I'm okay now."

Soon, they boarded the flight and found their seats. "This is going to be a long flight," Jo remarked.

"Well, it would be longer if we drove over there," Mac replied.

"That's true. Aren't you glad we don't have to go by wagon train anymore? What if we had to go by horseback these days?"

"It would take a very long time."

"It would be interesting though. You know, we could see the whole country and how beautiful it is."

"Yeah, we would definitely see a lot more but it would take us weeks to get over to California."

"Too long. They would already have gone on the cruise and come back before we got there."

Jo laughed. "We would have had to start a few weeks ago."

Mac smiled at her. "It might have been a real interesting trip," he said.

Jo looked at him as her mouth dropped open. "Mac Taylor, are you getting fresh with me?"

Mac bit his lip. "Maybe I am."

Jo leaned on his shoulder. "I like it," she said.

Mac looked out the window. He still felt a little shy about this relationship with Jo although he wanted it to go on. Jo leaned her head on his shoulder. "Three whole weeks together," she said. "It's going to be great."

"I know," Mac replied.

Jo smiled and hugged his arm. She wished he had not had to go through that ordeal with Melinda Holmes, but she intended to help him forget it as much as he could. She wanted him to be part of her life and never be any other way.

Soon, the plane took off and they were on their way to Los Angeles. Mac leaned back on his seat. "You're not going to sleep, are you?" Jo asked as she took a Reader's Digest from the magazine pocket on the seat.

Mac opened his eyes. "Why not?" he asked.

"I can't sleep. I'm too excited."

Mac closed his eyes and shifted in his seat to get more comfortable. "I'm excited too but I want to sleep a little."

Jo shook her head. "Oh, your excitement is overwhelming," she said sarcastically.

Mac looked at her. "Hey, I 'am' excited. I just want to relax. Isn't that what we're going for?"

"I don't know. I thought we were going to get more acquainted."

"Relaxing goes along with that."

"I never knew you were so lazy. When I first met you, you hardly left the office and I had to order you away from a crime scene to get you to get some rest. Now, you're wanting to sleep on this plane."

"Right. You made me realize that I needed more rest."

"Oh, Mac."

"Oh, Jo."

Jo smiled. "You're quite a conversationalist."

"I try to be."

Jo turned to a story in the Reader's Digest and started to read. Mac had his eyes closed but he heard her say "Oh my" and "My word" and "I declare". He looked at her wondering what she was reading. "If that don't beat all," Jo said.

Mac sat up straighter. "Okay," he said. "What are you reading about?"

Jo looked at him. "You're curious?" she asked.

Mac folded his arms. "You know you were just trying to get me to wonder what you were reading."

Jo looked at him as though she were surprised. "Really?" she asked. She held the book up to her chest. "Well, I can't stand for someone to read over my shoulder so you will just have to wait until I'm done."

Mac stared at her a moment. "Well, that is just not fair," he said. "You better stop all those comments then."

Jo laughed. "I just love getting to your interest."

"I'll get to yours one of these days."

Jo smiled and moved closer to him. "Really?" she asked as though she were totally interested in that subject. "What are you going to do?"

Mac rolled his eyes. "You are just playing with me," he said.

"I'm going to play with you, alright."

Mac backed away from her a little to look at her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You know what I mean. I intend to know a lot more about you and I want you to know me too."

"Really? What if I want to take it slowly?"

Jo sat up and leaned back on her seat. "Well, I guess I will just have to wait."

Mac chuckled at that reaction. "That was a cooperative answer."

"Do you want me to be uncooperative?"

"No but I thought you would argue with me about that."

Jo looked at him. "Didn't you mean it?"

Mac considered that and then nodded. "Yes, I meant it. I just want to take things slow."

"I don't mind that. I don't want to get hurt again either."

Mac looked at her. "You think I would hurt you?"

"No, I just don't want to rush into anything either. I want to make sure this is what we both want and that it will last. I don't want to go through another disaster."

Mac thought about that a moment. "That's not really the reason I want to take it slow. I would never hurt you and I don't think we would ever hurt each other but I just want to…well, I just want to make sure this is what we both want too."

"Then we basically want the same thing."

"But I don't think it could ever turn out to be a disaster."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a different person than your husband was. If you didn't want to see me anymore, I would not pressure you."

"Mac, I don't think the day will ever come when I don't want to see you again."

Mac looked at her. "I don't think it will come for me either."

Mac looked out the window and down at the ground. He could see a lot from up this high as there were no clouds. It was incredible to see how small everything looked from this high up. He could see all the highways down there. It was amazing…like looking at the map in a different way. He had always loved looking down from a plane.

They landed in Los Angeles only about an hour later than when they left New York because of the time difference. They would spend the night there and then leave on the cruise the next day. They checked into the hotel and went up to their room which had two separate rooms. "I am ready to take a nap now," Jo said as they walked in the door. She showed the bell boy where to leave the luggage and then when he was gone, she went to her room and fell on the bed. "Oh, it feels so good to lie down."

Mac walked in there. "Now who is getting lazy?" he asked.

Jo propped up on her elbow and looked at him. "Why don't you come and join me?" she asked.

Mac stared at her a moment. "I think I'll just stay up a while. I'm not really sleepy now."

"Suit yourself," Jo said as she stretched out on the bed.

Mac watched her a moment feeling tempted to take her up on her offer but he went back into his own room and turned the TV on. He did not want to do something else he would regret. He still remembered that day with Melinda. It was something he did not want to repeat even if he did like Jo.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Mac woke up when Jo kissed him. He jumped as he almost forgot where he was. He rubbed his face. "Good morning," Jo said.

"Is it?" Mac asked and looked at his watch. He sat up. "I can't believe I slept all night."

"I can't either," Jo replied. "But we have to get up and get moving. I am starving."

"Me too. I'll be ready in a few minutes."

Mac went into the bathroom and got a shower. When he was ready they went down for breakfast and then gathered up their luggage and headed for the cruise ship. As they neared the Port, they could see the beautiful Pacific Ocean. "Oh, it doesn't matter how many times you see it, it is still gorgeous," Jo said.

Mac nodded. "Sure is," he agreed. "So blue and alive."

"And we're going to be able to stare at it for three weeks."

"Pure paradise."

Jo hugged his arm. "Anywhere with you is paradise."

They soon arrived at the Port where the cruise ship was already waiting of course. Jo took a deep breath of the ocean air. "Just wonderful," she said as the strong breeze blew in her face.

Mac stopped beside her and looked out across the ocean. "Yeah," he agreed. It reminded him of being in the Marines. He had seen the ocean many times but it was still amazing to see.

They were soon onboard the ship and headed for their room. "Mac, we are finally here!" Jo said with a smile.

"Yes, I know," Mac replied.

"Aren't you excited?"

Mac looked at her. "Yes, I am but I guess I just don't express it a lot."

Jo kissed him on the cheek. "We are going to work on that."

Mac smiled. "Don't worry, I'll have fun."

They went to the third deck where their room was. Mac opened the door and stood there looking at it. Jo went in and set her luggage down. Mac set his suitcase down and looked around the room. "There's only one bed," he said. "I thought we were supposed to have two rooms."

Jo went to the two doors in the room but they were a closet and a bathroom. She looked at Mac. "Well, it's a king sized bed," she said. "We can share. I'll sleep on one side and you can sleep on the other."

Mac stared at her a moment. "Are you sure that's going to work?" he asked.

Jo walked over to him. "Why wouldn't it? Are you afraid we might lose control?"

Mac shook his head. "You're just trying to embarrass me now."

"Nobody else is here. We can talk privately." Jo put her arms around his neck as she shoved the door closed. Then she kissed him passionately. She relaxed into the kiss when she felt Mac's hands on her back. "I haven't had one of those in a long time," she said softly.

Mac looked into her eyes. "I know," he said.

"I wasn't criticizing you, Mac. I just want this to be a good vacation and I want us to get better acquainted but I also want you to get past what worries you."

"I'm trying to. It's just hard to get past that when you have false memories that she planted there and you know they're not your memories. You have to distinguish between those and your own memories."

Jo touched his face. "I know it must be hard."

"It is. When I thought of how long it had been since I went on a vacation or a trip, I had to get past that fake trip to Brazil. I know I've never been there but that memory comes up and I feel like I have been there."

Jo could not imagine how eerie that must be. "What did the doctor tell you?" she asked.

"There's not anything he can do about that but he says that memory would fade over time."

Jo looked around the room. "Well, I guess we should unpack our suitcases so our clothes won't be wrinkled," she said.

"Yeah," Mac agreed.

They began unpacking and after a while, they heard the ship horn signifying that they were about to move. "Are we going up on deck?" Jo asked.

"What for?" Mac asked. "We don't have anyone to wave at."

"We could act like we do."

Mac smiled. He remembered when he had shipped out in the Marines. He had left Claire standing on the dock watching. He had watched until he could not see her anymore. He remembered writing her letters while he was gone and he always wondered if she received them for a long time before he ever got one back. There was no email back then and no cell phones. They had to rely on the regular mail.

Jo slapped Mac on the back gently. "Hey," she said.

Mac looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"Are you listening to me?"

"I thought I was. Did you say something else?"

Jo propped on his shoulder. "Let's go on the deck and wave."

"Okay if you want to."

Mac followed Jo out to the rail of the ship and they waved at the people on the dock. "Isn't this fun?" Jo asked. "How do you know those people down there are really waving to someone they know?"

Mac chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think I'm going to have a dull moment on this trip," he said.

Jo put her arm around him. "I'm going to see to that."

When they were away from the dock, they went back into their room. "I still wonder if we have the right room," Mac said. "After all, we paid for one with two rooms."

"Maybe they thought we didn't need two rooms." Jo held up a red and gold nightie in front of her for Mac to see. "How do you think this will look on me?"

Mac stared at it a moment and then looked at Jo. "I'm sure it will look the way it's supposed to look," he said.

Jo put her hands on her hips. "What kind of answer is that?"

"I don't know. Don't ask me such hard questions."

"Can't you say 'sexy' or 'awful'?" Jo smiled. "That word 'sexy' just makes you nervous."

Mac shook his head. "You told me that before," he said.

"Yes, and I was right."

Mac walked over to her. "Okay, you want me to tell you what I really think?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Jo said with interest and put her arms around his neck.

Mac's mischievous grin played on his lips. "I think…you would look so sexy in that that I probably wouldn't stay on my side of the bed and I would probably rip it off you and we would probably do something that would rock this boat."

Jo's mouth dropped open and she hit him on the shoulder. "That was dirty," she said.

Mac almost laughed. "Well, you wanted me to open up and be honest."

"I don't think that was honest. You just wanted to see how I would react to that." Jo threw the nightie into her drawer and closed it. "Just for that, I won't wear it."

"Aw, come on. You mean you don't want to have wild sex?"

Jo gasped. "Mac Taylor! Should I be staying in this room with you?"

Mac laughed. "I'm sorry. I was only kidding, but I do think you would look very sexy in that. You look very pretty in red."

Jo stared at him a moment. "Okay, I guess that makes up for that remark but I think I'll save that until we're ready to have wild sex."

Mac shook his head. "And what if we're never ready?"

"Then I won't wear it."

Mac sat down on the bed. "I didn't mean to be rude," he said.

Jo sat down beside him. "I know that, Mac. If we can't joke with each other, how are we ever going to have any fun together?"

"I don't know."

Jo leaned on his shoulder. "I think there's another side to you that none of us ever see."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I would never have thought you would have the nerve to say something like that."

Mac looked at her. "We're not in public. No one else can hear what we're saying."

"So, you're a wild man when you're in private?"

Mac smiled. "I don't know. I guess you can be the judge of that."

"I will be."

"So, how are you in private?"

"I guess you will just have to wait and see."

"I will wait."

Just then, they heard another horn on the boat announcing that everyone should come to the recreation deck for the welcome. "I guess that means we better go," Jo said. "I don't want to be the only one who doesn't know where anything is."

"Me neither, especially since we're detectives."


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you will send reviews. This is another tranquil chapter but...hey, they are on vacation. :) Dont worry, there will be some excitement soon. After that college assignment I just got finished with, I had to write a tranquil chapter. LOL. Thanks for reading. :) miss37**

That evening, Mac and Jo arrived back at their cabin after a luxurious dinner. "That was just heavenly," Jo said.

"I think I ate too much," Mac said as he belched.

Jo hit him on the shoulder. "Is this what I have to look forward to?"

Mac laughed. "Excuse me. Surely you know that men belch."

"Do you have to do it so rudely?"

"Are you telling me that you never have gas?"

"Oh, my word!" Jo went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Mac laughed. He enjoyed teasing her. He lay down on the bed and relaxed. He had not felt relaxed for quite a while. Soon, Jo came from the bathroom. "Why don't we go out on deck and watch the sun go down?" she asked.

"Sounds good to me," Mac said.

They went out on the deck to the front of the ship and leaned on the rail. "This is just wonderful," Jo said. "It has been years since I went on a cruise."

"Me too." Mac did not want to think of how long it had been since he had been anywhere that even remotely looked like a vacation.

Jo laced her fingers with Mac's. "Do you think sunsets are romantic?" she asked.

"I guess," Mac replied. "They're beautiful." He looked at Jo. "They make fire dance in your hair."

Jo smiled. "And what else?"

"It gives you a glow that just enhances your beauty."

Jo stared at him a moment. "Have you always been this charming?" she asked.

"I tried to be."

"So how many girlfriends have you had in life?"

Mac scowled. "How should I know? I wasn't exactly counting."

"But I'll bet you remember them all."

"I would rather forget some."

"Like which?" Jo asked as she hugged his arm.

"Do we have to talk about this?"

"No, I just wanted to see what you would say."

Mac leaned his head on Jo's as she was leaning on his shoulder. They watched the sun sink into the West and then watched the stars come out. "Oh, you can't see stars like this in New York," Jo said. "But I could back home in Alabama."

"I guess I've kinda always lived in a big city and never really saw many stars."

"There's nothing like lying and staring at the stars and picking out the Big Dipper and all that." Jo pointed. "You see it there?"

Mac looked up at the stars. "Yes, I see it."

"And over there is Orion. See the three stars?"

Mac smiled. "When I was in the war, I would lay there and stare at the stars and watch them change as the night went on. You can definitely see the stars over there."

"You can see the planets as well." Jo pointed. "You see that big star there?"

"Yes, that's Jupiter."

Jo looked at him. "How did you know?"

"Well, one of my buddies was a star gazer."

"And over there is the Little Dipper and even Mars. You can't see Mars very well most of the time but out here you can."

"Because it's red. Red is one of those colors that…"

"Mac, let's don't go through a science lesson."

Mac smiled. "Okay."

Jo looked over the rail of the ship at the water below. "Just look how far we are from the water," she said.

Mac looked up at the sky. "I would rather not."

Jo looked at him. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to be hanging over this rail and give the fish something to eat."

"You get seasick?"

"Let's don't talk about that. I know I was in the Marines but I don't like looking down at the water when it's dark."

"You have to love that sound though," Jo said. "Just listen to that. There's nothing like it in the world."

Mac took a deep breath of the ocean air. He had to admit the sound was relaxing. "So, when are we going in?" he asked.

"The sun just went down."

"But the sun doesn't go down until really late this time of year."

"But we're on vacation."

"I know but I'm still sleepy."

"Okay, if you want to go to bed."

They went to their cabin, not noticing that they were getting a lot of attention from two other people on the deck. Mac yawned as they walked into the cabin. He looked at Jo. "So which side of the bed do you want?" he asked.

Jo considered that. "That side," she said. "I want to be close to the window."

"Okay, I'll sleep over here by the door."

They looked at each other a moment. "So, how are we going to do this?" Mac asked.

"I'll take the bathroom," Jo said. She went over to the dresser and got what she wanted to wear to bed and went into the bathroom.

Mac pulled the covers back on the bed and then got ready for bed. He put on blue pajamas and got a book from his suitcase. He had not read in bed in a long time. He turned the lamp on that was sitting on the table beside the bed. He opened the book to the first chapter. He could not even remember the last time he read a book. He was reading a Western.

Jo soon came from the bathroom with pink pajamas on. "So, how do you like this?" she asked.

Mac smiled. "Very appropriate," he said.

Jo looked at him a moment. "You're reading? I thought you were sleepy."

"I want to read though."

"Well, I'll read too then."

Jo got her book and got into bed. Mac looked at her and smiled. "This is nice," he said.

Jo looked at him. "Yes, much better than being alone."

They stared at each other a moment. Mac cleared his throat and then looked at his book. "This book is interesting," he said.

"So is mine," Jo replied as she scooted further down into the bed.

Mac glanced at her feeling well aware of her in bed with him. He shifted a little to get more comfortable and tried to concentrate on his book. Jo glanced toward him as she was having the same problem.

Mac finally got sleepy and started yawning so he closed his book and laid it on the nightstand. "I think I have to turn in," he said.

"Me too," Jo replied and closed her own book.

Mac turned the light out and lay down. The light of the moon was shining into the room. "Do I get a good night kiss?" Jo asked as she moved closer to him.

Mac looked at her as the soft moonlight lit up her face. She leaned over him and kissed him softly. Then she kissed him more passionately. Mac caressed the back of her head as they shared a long, intimate kiss. "I think we better go to sleep," Mac said.

"Good idea," Jo replied and moved back over to her side of the bed. She sighed trying to curb her desire.

Mac turned over the other way and closed his eyes. He did not know if he could curb his desire but he did not want to do anything like he did with Melinda. He remembered that quite vividly. He had wanted to share that with Jo, not some woman whom he did not even know.

Mac soon fell asleep in his thoughts but he was awakened in the middle of the night when Jo shook his shoulder. Mac almost jumped. He looked at her. "I'm sorry for waking you," Jo said. "Did you hear something?"

Mac rubbed his face. "No," he said. He turned over on his back and almost fell back to sleep.

"Mac, I'm talking to you," Jo said.

"Jo, you're going to hear noises. We're on a ship full of people."

Jo listened and realized she was hearing people on the other side of the wall. She looked at Mac who was almost asleep again. She lay down next to him and snuggled closer to him as she listened to what was going on on the other side of the wall. She rolled her eyes as she wished they would be quieter. She watched Mac sleep and put her hand on his chest and watched it rise and fall with his breathing. She could feel his heart beating. Then she heard the woman on the other side of the wall laugh loudly and then squeal.

Jo sat up and turned the light on. Mac squinted as he opened his eyes slightly. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Can you not hear that?" Jo asked as the woman laughed even louder this time.

Mac listened a moment and then looked at Jo. "I don't care what they're doing," he said. "I want some sleep." He turned the light off and turned over on his side again.

"You mean you can just go back to sleep with all that going on?" Jo asked.

Mac faked a loud snore. "Watch me," he said. "Hey, they're on vacation. Maybe it's been a long time or maybe they're on their honeymoon and this is their first time."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "That is just dirty!" she said. "I don't want to hear it."

"What are you going to do about it? Go to sleep."

Jo flopped down on the bed and folded her arms. "You could at least turn over here and kiss me," she said.

Mac looked over his shoulder at Jo. "Is that what's bothering you?" he asked. "You want to have sex too?"

Jo hit him on the shoulder. "Shut up," she said.

Mac almost laughed. "You're pitiful…and women think men are the ones who start everything."

"I never said that. You want me to jerk you over here?"

"No. I want to go to sleep."

"Are you that old?"

Mac sat up and looked at her. "No, I am not but I am not in the mood right now."

Jo sat up and moved closer to him. "I'll bet I can get you in the mood."

Mac stared at her a moment. "I thought we were going to stay on our own sides of the bed and take this slowly."

"Well, that was before we actually got into bed together and before I heard that over there."

"And that makes you want to go at it? That's no reason."

"They sound like they're having fun." Jo stared at him as they heard more going on in the next room.

"They probably are, but I'll be they're not as old as we are."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Some of us need sleep."

"You might sleep better."

Mac stared at her a moment. "Jo, don't you want us to do this when it's for love?"

Jo nodded. "Yes," she said.

Mac lay back down and Jo lay down next to him and lay her head on his shoulder. "If we were married, we would just go at it, wouldn't we?" Jo asked.

Mac smiled. "Yeah."

"What will we do tomorrow?" Jo asked.

"Well, I guess we'll do whatever you do on a ship."

"I wonder what we'll have for breakfast."

"Jo, I'm not ready to think about food right now. I'm still full from what I ate tonight."

"I think I could eat again."

"You have a fast metabolism. I guess I am a little slower."

"I'm going to speed you up."

Mac smiled as he closed his eyes. He loved having Jo close to him. He felt like he was right where he should be…


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Jo woke Mac up before the dinner horn even sounded. Mac pulled the covers over his head. "Get up," Jo said. "I did not come on this cruise to sleep."

"I did," Mac said. "I came to relax."

"You relaxed all night," Jo declared. "I can't believe you slept all night in this cabin with the ocean out there and the stars and all."

Mac looked at Jo. "Am I disappointing you?" he asked.

"Just get up."

"Fine," Mac said as he sat up on the side of the bed. He looked at Jo. "What are we about to do?"

"We're going to get to the meal deck before everyone else does so we don't have to wait in a long line."

"Oh." Mac blew out a breath and went into the bathroom. He thought he could wait in a line to get some more sleep. He just wanted to relax.

When Mac was ready, he and Jo went down to the meal deck. They found that some others had the same idea. There were already some people there waiting. "I can't believe it," Jo said. "I thought I was getting up early enough to beat everybody."

"Maybe they're in a different time zone than we are."

"Funny."

Mac put his arm around Jo and pulled her close to him. "I enjoyed last night," he said. "I slept good."

"I know you did," Jo replied. "Even with all that hanky panky going on in the other room."

Mac shook his head. "It wasn't bothering me."

"I don't think anything could have bothered you. Do you always sleep like that?"

"When I'm relaxed I do."

While Mac and Jo were waiting in line, a young couple came in. "That's them," Jo said and turned around toward the food line.

"Who?" Mac asked.

"Those are our neighbors."

Mac shook his head. "When are you going to get over that?"

"I don't know."

"I hope it's soon."

"I ought to embarrass them and tell them to keep it down tonight."

"You will not," Mac said. "Why would you want to ruin their fun?"

"I'm only kidding."

"I think you would be more embarrassed about that than they would."

"Are you kidding? With the job we have?"

"Well, this is different."

Just then, Mac saw someone come in the door. The woman was wearing a big hat and sunglasses but she looked familiar. She had long black hair. Jo noticed Mac looking at something and she looked to see what he was looking at. "Mac, are you staring?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "I just thought that woman looked familiar," he said.

"What woman?"

"The one with the big hat on…just forget it."

"Who could you know out here?"

"Nobody but you."

They soon had their breakfast and sat down at a table. "This is just too luxurious," Jo said as she took a bite of melon.

"Well, they might let us get in the dingy and trail behind the ship while we eat," Mac said with a twinkle in his eye.

Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "You sure are a joker these days."

"I feel happy."

"I'm glad."

Mac chewed a moment. "So, what are we doing after we get done eating?" he asked.

"Maybe we will go up and lounge in the sun."

"Or take a swim?"

"You can if you want and I'll watch."

When they were done eating, they went to their cabin and changed. Jo put on a blue and green one piece suit and Mac put on white trunks and a red tank top. They went up to the recreation deck and found two lounge chairs that were not occupied. Jo took her robe off and looked at Mac. "Well, how do you like it?" she asked.

"Beautiful," Mac said. He took his tank top off. "I'm going for a dip."

Jo watched as Mac went over to the edge of the pool and sat down and stuck his feet in the water. He looked at Jo. "That water is still cold," he said.

Jo smiled. "You might ought to come over here with me," she said.

Mac looked at her. "I'll probably do that but first, I'm going for a dip."

Jo watched as Mac plunged into the water. She almost shivered herself thinking of that cold water. She could not stand cold water. It reminded her of the times she went swimming in the river in Alabama. Even though it was a warmer climate there, the water still got cold and that river seemed to never know when the sun was up.

As Jo was sitting there, she put her shades on and noticed the woman that Mac had seen in the dining room. She was standing up at the rail over the pool looking down. Jo noticed that the woman watched Mac when he got out of the pool. Mac came back over to the chairs. He shivered. "That was a refreshing dip," he said.

"Don't look up there, but I think someone is watching you," Jo said.

"Like who?" Mac asked as he continued what he was doing…rubbing water from his hair.

"The woman you saw in the dining room. She seems to be very interested in you."

"She looked familiar but I don't know who she is. She has black hair."

"What if that's a wig?"

"Is she still wearing that hat?"

"Yes and the shades too. They cover up half her face almost. It's like she's wanting to hide." Jo looked

at Mac as he sat down on his chair. "Mac, you don't think it's…that woman, do you?"

Mac looked at her, his smile fading. He looked up toward the rail but the woman was gone. "She's not there now," he said. He looked at Jo. "What would she be doing here?"

Jo leaned back on her chair. "To ruin our vacation," she said.

"She's not going to do that."

"I hope not but I can't think of a thing good that she would be doing on this cruise."

"You don't know that it's her, Jo. Maybe the woman just likes what she sees."

Jo looked at him. "You would just love that, wouldn't you?"

Mac smiled. "Well, it's not impossible, is it? You're always telling me I'm sexy."

"You are, dear."

Mac lay down on the chair. "Maybe she thinks I am too."

"It's possible."

Jo closed her eyes as she took her shades off but she was still concerned. She did not like the fact that that woman was watching Mac and it was not because she was jealous either. She could not help but think that the woman had motions like Melinda Holmes and the woman was not in jail. She could have found out that they were coming on this cruise. Jo was not sure how she would have found that out unless she had some sort of spy in the police department.

Mac loved the warmth of the sun. He did not want to think about Melinda Holmes. His memories of her were not anything that he wanted to remember but they were there and he could do nothing about it. He had wished that the psychiatrist could help him forget that but he could not. Mac sighed as he thought Melinda Holmes was actually getting her way if she wanted to ruin their vacation because now he was thinking about her rather than enjoy what he was doing.

A wind blew across the deck and Mac shivered. It was cold when one was wet. He knew he would dry soon though because the sun was bright and warm. He did not notice that his admirer was now standing up on the deck above looking down at him. Her companion on the cruise came over to her and kissed her and put his arms around her as though they were enjoying the breeze. "We'll do it tonight," Melinda said. "I think they're getting suspicious because they saw me."

"How would they know it's you?" Thomas asked.

"They're detectives. They're naturally curious and suspicious. That was what made him a good jewel thief…he didn't make mistakes."

"Until he tried to get out of there, and he got in the way of the camera."

"No, until he went out and got stone drunk and opened his big mouth." Melinda sighed with pleasure as she enjoyed having Thomas' arms around her now. She looked down at Mac. She supposed she owed him some gratitude for showing her that Thomas really loved her and was not just using her for pleasure the way she had been using him. She looked at Thomas. "He ruined everything for us. Now everything we do will be under scrutiny by the police and FBI." She glared down at Mac and Jo. "And take care of his little companion there too. She would ruin everything."

"Don't worry," Thomas said. "Ed and I will get rid of them."

"Make sure they don't die slowly. I want them to suffer."

"They will."


	5. Chapter 5

When Mac and Jo were done with their sunbathing, they went back to their cabin. "I think I'm going to take a shower," Jo said. "Then I want to go and have a snack."

"I wouldn't mind that," Mac replied. "We arrive in Hawaii tomorrow." He smiled. "It's going to be great."

"Yes. I want to lie on the beach until people think I'm planted there."

Mac chuckled. "I guess that means I'll have to do that too?"

"Of course."

Jo went into the bathroom. Mac got dressed in some white pants and a blue t-shirt. He lay down on the bed to wait for Jo. He certainly liked being with Jo. Not only was she beautiful but she always gave him something to look forward to. She was never tired. Mac smiled at that thought. He wondered if she was ever tired…he was not sure. She certainly never acted like she was tired. She seemed to always be happy and full of energy. Mac thought her children made her happy. She just basked in their accomplishments. He remembered how proud his parents always were of him. He did not think his mother wanted him to join the Marines but she supported his decision.

Mac heard Jo humming in the shower. He turned on his side and looked toward the bathroom door. He certainly thought he could fall in love with her and he certainly wanted the opportunity to see if he could. He heard the shower go off and waited for Jo to come out.

Jo finally came out of the bathroom with her hair still wet but combed. "I think I'm not going to dry my hair," she said. "It will be softer if it dries on its own."

Mac sat up on the side of the bed and put his sandals on. "You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes. Just a minute."

Jo put her sandals on and they left the cabin and headed for the dining hall. "I'm glad we can eat any time of the day," Jo said.

"Me too if you're hungry all the time," Mac replied.

"I'm not hungry all the time. I just eat small meals. I don't like eating a big meal and besides, I want to eat some more of that melon."

"It was good."

When they were done in the dining room, Mac and Jo went to the casino and played some games in there. "I didn't know you liked to play poker so well," Jo remarked.

"I wouldn't say I like it so much," Mac said. "But it's fun…especially when you don't have to worry about losing any money."

Jo laughed. "Playing for candy. I would never have thought I would see that."

Mac put a piece of the fruit candy in his mouth. He almost shivered at the sourness of it. "That is definitely lemon," he said.

"I love lemon candy. Are you going to share?"

Mac looked at her with a mischievous grin. "I'll give you a piece for a kiss."

Jo stopped and put her arms around his neck. "You're on," she said and gave him a big kiss.

Mac smiled as he looked around them. "Okay, that was worth a piece."

Jo smiled and took the piece of candy. "I would give you more than that if you gave me all that candy."

Mac laughed. "You're terrible."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

Jo suddenly frowned as she saw that woman in the big hat standing up on the walk looking down at them again. "There she is again, Mac," she said.

Mac glanced, pretending not to be looking. "Jo, there's no way she could know we would be coming this way," he said.

Jo nodded. "I know, but it just gives me an eerie feeling."

"Stop worrying about that. I don't think she knows us. Maybe she just likes to stand and watch people."

"Does she always wear that big hat?"

"Well, she's not wearing the same one now. She had on a brown one this morning but she's wearing a white one now. Maybe she worries about skin cancer."

"There's sunscreen. It just seems to me that she's hiding. I mean, look at those big shades. Who wears shades that big?"

"A lot of people." Mac looked at Jo with a smile. He was wearing his usual small-lense shades. "I don't particularly like big shades but I guess it's whatever anyone likes."

Jo adjusted her shades as well. She did not like big shades but Mac was right. If anyone liked them, that was their business. She could not imagine dressing like that on a cruise though.

Melinda watched Mac and Jo walk on under the walk that she was standing on without seeming to watch them. She knew they had noticed her but their suspicions would end tonight. She had plans for them.

Mac and Jo walked on to the front of the ship and looked out across the water toward Hawaii but they could not see anything yet. They would not arrive there until the next day. Jo closed her eyes as the ocean breeze hit her in the face. "Mac, I think I would definitely learn to live in Hawaii," she said.

Mac smiled. "Well, we have the Atlantic Ocean over there where we live," he said.

"But it gets cold up there. Can you imagine living in a place where it never gets cold?"

"No. I kinda like cold weather. It makes things change."

Jo looked at him. "You 'like' cold weather?"

"Well, everything gets a rest in the winter. I'm not sure I would want to live anywhere that it never got cold."

Jo considered that. "You might be right but I love this ocean breeze."

"Maybe we'll have to start taking more trips down to the harbor."

Jo looked at him. "I guess that means we're going to start spending a lot more time together?"

Mac nodded. "Sure it does. I've enjoyed all the time I've spent with you."

"Me too. Why don't we go back to the cabin and just lie there and be lazy?"

"Sounds good to me."

They walked back to the cabin and went inside. Mac flopped on the bed and Jo crawled up beside him. They lay there and stared at each other a moment. "Couldn't you get used to this?" Jo asked.

"Lying here look at you?" Mac asked. "Definitely."

Jo smiled. "I mean, having someone to sleep with all the time."

"I could."

Jo moved closer to him and kissed him. Mac held her in the kiss as he put his arms around her. He pulled her close to him as the kiss became more intimate. Then he hugged her to him and sighed with contentment. Jo loved feeling his arms around her. "I could definitely get used to this," she said. "I don't ever want to be alone again."

"Me neither," Mac whispered as he kissed Jo on the head. He held her close.

They fell asleep holding each other and when they woke up, they were hearing the dinner horn. "Oh, it's time to eat again," Jo said. She lay her head back on Mac's shoulder. "Are we skipping?"

"We could always go and eat later," Mac said.

"Good idea."

They snuggled together again and Jo fell asleep. Mac stared out the window. He could see the ocean from there and the blue sky. He was not really sleepy anymore but he wanted to lay here with Jo. He had spent too many nights alone and he wanted that to be over. He thought Jo wanted the same thing. But were they in love? Sometimes he thought he loved her and then other times he was not sure.

That evening, after dinner, Mac and Jo were walking back to their cabin but instead of going straight back, they stopped at the rail at the back of the ship to look at the stars again. "My sisters and I used to go out at night and just stare up at the stars," Jo said. "We looked at them through binoculars. You know, you can see the planets quite well with those. You can even see Jupiter's moons going around it, although they look like little tiny stars."

"That's quite a story," someone said.

Mac and Jo whirled around to see Melinda and Thomas, as well as another of her body guards there. Melinda was holding a weapon in her hand that had a silencer on it. "Don't even think that I won't use this," she said. "I'll shoot you and we'll throw you overboard for the sharks to get and I think you both know that sharks are drawn to blood."

Mac frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "And just what do you think you're going to do?"

"You'll see."

Mac looked around them but he did not know what they could do. "You can't just kill us on this ship," Jo said. She looked at Mac. "Even she is not that stupid."

Melinda pulled the hammer back on the weapon. "Oh really?" she asked.

Melinda motioned to her guards and they grabbed Jo and Mac. Jo started to put up a struggle but Mac said, "Stop". He knew Melinda would do just what she said.

Jo looked at him and then at the weapon in Melinda's hand. "You have an intelligent man there," she said. "Tape their mouths."

They put duct tape on their mouths so that they would not be heard. They tied Jo's hands and Mac's feet. Melinda walked up to Mac. "Now, we'll see whether you save yourself or her," she said. "You know so much about what love is." She touched his face. "I do thank you for that."

Melinda nodded to her two helpers. "Throw them overboard."

Mac and Jo were alarmed now. They knew if they threw them down there, they would never be heard or seen. They struggled, but Melinda held the weapon up at them. "You can either go like you are or be wounded."

Mac knew they could not get away and it they were wounded, sharks would be drawn to them. He looked at Jo who was terrified. He was terrified too but he did not want to be wounded. They threw Mac over the rail first. He felt like he would fall forever but it gave him time to get his feet down and he was trying to get them untied already. He hit the water and finally got the rope off his feet. He jerked the tape off his mouth as he surfaced and gulped in a breath of air. He looked in horror as he saw Jo falling from the ship which had left him behind already. He headed for her as fast as he could swim. He knew she would drown because her hands were tied. When he got to the spot where he thought she was, he dove for her. It was so dark, he could not see her. He kept looking until he caught a glimpse of her white tank top. He dove for her seeing her struggling with the ropes. She was sinking fast but he finally caught up with her and grabbed her. Mac was beginning to think they would not make it back up to the surface but they finally broke the surface and he sucked in a big breath of air. He jerked the tape from Jo's mouth and she got in a big breath then. He got the ropes off her wrists and held her to him as he looked to see the ship moving away from them very fast.

"Mac, what are we going to do?" Jo almost screamed at him.

Mac looked at her. "We're not going to panic," he said. "We have to just deal with this and survive."

Jo was crying. "Mac, we're in the middle of the ocean!"

Mac held her to him. He could feel her trembling. He looked around them but could not see anything but the stars and the dark water. The ship even looked small now. He had never been in a situation like this in his life although he had been put out on a lifeboat during training and had to survive for a day. He looked at Jo, although he could not see her very well except where the moon highlighted her face. "We can make it," he said. "We'll be able to see when daylight comes."

"What good will that do?" Jo asked.

"Maybe we'll be able to see an island around here or a boat will be able to see us."

That did not console Jo at all. All she could think about was never seeing her kids again and they would not know what happened to her unless her shark chewed body washed up on the shore of California or Hawaii. "How can you be so calm about this?" she asked. "WE ARE IN THE OCEAN."

Mac did not want her to know how he was shaking inside. "Jo, there's nothing we can do about that."

"So, what do we do? Just float here?"

"No. We're going to swim in the direction the boat is going. Maybe we can even make it to Hawaii."

"Mac, we were not going to arrive in Hawaii until tomorrow! You see how fast that ship got away from us? That's how far it is!"

"Well, what do you suggest?"

Jo began to cry again. She knew she was panicking and blaming it on Mac but it was not his fault…or was it? She had told him that she thought that was Melinda and he would not listen. "I told you that it looked like her!" Jo said and pushed away from him. She began swimming toward the ship.

Mac looked after her in surprise. "Are you saying that this is my fault?" he asked.

Jo looked at him. "Yeah! That's what I'm saying! You should have listened when I told you I thought it was her!"

"Jo, I didn't know it was her!"

Jo turned and began swimming again. Then she stopped. "You remember when I said, 'anywhere with you is paradise'? Well, I was wrong!"

Mac rolled his eyes, knowing that she was venting her anger and terror. He began swimming after her but soon overtook her and got ahead of her since he was a much stronger swimmer. "Oh, now you're going to show out!" Jo said.

"I'm not showing out, I'm swimming!" Mac said.

"Well, don't run off and leave me!"

"I'm not!" Mac stopped and waited a moment.

Jo swam up to him and looked at him. "I'm sorry," she said. "This is not your fault. I shouldn't have said that."

Mac stroked her hair. "It's alright," he said. "I know you're scared."

"Scared is not the word, Mac."

"We'll do our best to make it, Jo."

"I want to see my kids again, Mac," Jo said crying.

"You will. Believe that."

They began swimming again, not knowing where they were going except that they were going in the direction the ship had been going and they could see it far in the distance now. "I guess I won't get to eat anymore of that melon," Jo remarked.

"Or those pancakes," Mac said.

"I enjoyed playing poker with you too."

Mac could hear that Jo was almost out of breath. "Let's stop a little while," he said and turned to her. "You don't want to get exhausted."

Jo moved into his arms. She was tired now. "Just relax a while," Mac said. "And I'll hold you."

Jo relaxed into his arms. She was getting her breath back. She was in pretty good shape but she did not swim a lot. Mac looked toward the ship which was just a dot now. He held Jo to him and hoped that they could get out of this.


	6. Chapter 6

Mac was holding Jo when he heard a deep rumble. He opened his eyes and hoped that was not what he thought it was. Jo raised up her head and looked at him. "Mac, what was that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Mac said and then heard the rumble again.

Jo gasped. "Mac! I just saw lightning!"

Mac did not know what to say. He knew if that storm was bad enough, it could separate them. "What are we going to do?" Jo asked.

Mac was thinking but he did not know anything that they could do as he felt the first blast of wind from the storm. The ocean started to wave as well. He realized they were both wearing belts. "Let's buckle our belts together and we won't get separated from each other," he said.

"Is that a good idea?" Jo asked as Mac was unbuckling his belt.

"If we get separated, we might not find each other again."

Mac waited for her to unbuckle her belt. "Do you want me to unbuckle it?" he asked.

Jo almost smiled but she was in no mood for a joke. She unbuckled the belt and they intertwined them. The ocean was starting to wave more now. "Mac, are we going to survive this?" Jo asked.

"We have to," Mac replied.

The ocean became rougher as the storm came closer and the thunder was louder. "Mac, if we die, I want you to know that I love you," Jo said.

Mac looked at her although he could barely see her until the lightning flashed. "I love you too, Jo," he said.

Just then, a big wave lifted them high and they went down. They clung to each other as they went through the roughest ride of their lives. The belts kept them together even when their grip slipped loose. Mac felt like the storm was going to go on forever but finally the ocean started to calm down. Mac slung some of the water out of his hair. "You okay?" he asked when they could hear each other again.

"I think I swallowed some of that water," Jo said.

Mac looked around them but it was still dark. He looked at his watch which had a light. "That storm tossed us for two hours," he said.

"Do you think we're a long way from where we were before?" Jo asked.

"I don't know. There's no way to tell. Even the stars are hidden now and I don't know how to read them out here."

Jo coughed. "Let's unbuckle ourselves," she said.

"I don't think we should swim again until the sun comes up so we'll know which way is west. We don't want to be going the wrong way. We could get further from help than closer."

They bobbed up and down on the water. Mac got so sleepy, he thought he would not be able to stay awake and Jo was the same. "We can't fall asleep," Mac said.

"I don't know how much longer I can stay awake," Jo replied.

Mac began to sing the Marine anthem. Jo listened to him but she thought that made her even sleepier and she did not know all the words. When he was done with that, Jo began to sing "Oh, Susanna". Mac rubbed his eyes. "I don't think this is working," he said. He unbuckled himself from Jo and ducked under the water and came back up.

It startled Jo for an instant but she realized he was trying to wake himself up. "I wish we knew which way is West," Mac said as he looked around them. He buckled his belt back to Jo's.

They floated up and down on the waves until Mac was almost dozing until he felt something touch his foot. He opened his eyes as he realized he had been dozing. Then he felt something touch his foot again. Mac swallowed wondering what that could have been. Jo looked at Mac as she felt something too. "Mac, what was that?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. He had not known that she felt it. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe it was just a fish."

"A fish?"

Mac heart was starting to pound. "Let's swim a little," he said.

"Which way?"

Mac looked up at the sky and could barely see the moon through the clouds. "This way!" he said and unbuckled his belt from Jo.

They began to swim, hoping that whatever had touched their feet was not a shark and that it would not come after them. They soon stopped again, hoping that they were safe again. Mac was wishing that daylight would come but it would be a while before it showed up. He did not know how far the storm had carried them and now, they could be far from Hawaii.

They were floating and bobbing up and down again when Mac saw the first gray of dawn touch the sky. He was exhausted from swimming and from having to stay afloat. Jo gasped. "Mac, it's morning," she said with relief.

Mac hoped that when they could see more around them, they would be able to see some sort of land. He watched as the sun came up…a beautiful sight even though they were in danger. Finally, it was daylight and they looked around them. Mac noticed an island in the far distance. "Look," he said pointing. "It's an island."

"Mac, that's so far away!" Jo said.

"But at least it's land. Let's start that way."

They began to swim. Mac was hoping that they would be able to reach it by the end of this day. He was not sure he could stay awake another night. They swam most of the day, taking breaks at intervals. Mac felt like he was in a daze part of the time because he was so tired. He even thought of drinking the ocean water and he knew he could not do that. He knew his brain was suffering from sleep deprivation but he could not give in to crazy thoughts.

"Mac, I'm so thirsty," Jo said.

"Jo, we can't drink this water," Mac said.

"Just a little?"

"No."

They looked toward the island again. It seemed to look closer now but it was still far. "Let's swim some more," Jo said.

Mac nodded even though he was exhausted. He thought he wanted to just give in but he could not. He began swimming. He began to swim slower and slower as Jo pulled out in front of him. He became labored in his breathing and thought he could not go on. Jo looked back at him. "Mac, come on," she said.

Mac did not answer. He had to concentrate to keep swimming. His arms felt like they were almost numb and he had to watch them to make sure he was swimming right. Jo stopped to wait on him but Mac did not even seem to know that she was there. She knew he had not gotten to rest like she did. He had held her up and she had rested a little.

Mac stopped when he got a little past Jo. He almost sunk under but Jo grabbed him. "Mac!" she exclaimed.

Mac looked at her. She could see his weariness. "We have to keep going," Mac said.

Jo knew he was right. There was only one way to get out of this and that was to make it to that island. Mac began to swim again and swam until he felt like he was swimming in his sleep. Jo stayed with him to make sure he did not get too exhausted although she was pretty exhausted herself but she kept looking toward that island and thinking of getting to be on that beach lying down. "Mac, just look at the island," she said. "When we get there, we can lie down and rest. We're this close to it and we can make it."

Mac looked toward the island. He thought about the beach too. He wanted to get on it so bad and stop swimming. He seemed to find some strength and swam a little faster. By that evening, they were almost to the island. "Just a little further!" Jo said. She was desperate now. She was going to get to that island before sundown. She would not spend another night in the water.

Mac swam until his feet touched the bottom. He tried to put his feet down, but he could not stand up. He had to keep swimming until he could crawl up to the beach. Jo did the same thing. They collapsed when they got on the beach and were instantly asleep.

When Mac woke up, was startled for a moment. He sat up, thinking that he was still in the water, but he realized he was on the beach. He lay back down on the sand. He did not even remember getting to the shore. It was daylight and he remembered that it had been evening when they were getting to the island. He looked at Jo who was still sleeping.

Mac shivered as a breeze blew across him. He wanted those wet clothes off. He sat up and took off his white shirt which has sleeves and then he took off the tank top he had on under it. They were still soaking wet. He laid them on a rock to dry. Jo had on a light blue shirt. They had worn those clothes because they had gone to dinner just before they went for an unexpected swim. Mac took off his white pants and laid them on a rock too. He felt a little warmer without the wet clothes on and he was glad it was summer. He supposed his underwear would dry soon. He looked at Jo. Maybe she would not think he was crazy sitting out here in his underwear. He was sure no one else would see him because they had been here all night and no one had come around that he knew of.

Mac soon got up and walked down the beach a little way. He was hungry and he wondered what they could find here to eat. He stepped into the water and washed some of the sand off. He hated sand. It got everywhere…even places that were covered.

Mac walked down to some rocks there at the edge of the water to look for some muscles that maybe they could eat. He would have to figure out how to build a fire to cook them on. He looked out across the ocean. When would anyone miss them? He was sure someone would miss them when the ship arrived in Hawaii which was supposed to be today. He thought that thunderstorm had carried them a few miles when it came by. He had no idea where they were but when Jo woke up, they would explore the island and find out what was there.


	7. Chapter 7

Mac found a few muscles on the rock and even found two crabs. He walked back to where Jo was and fixed some rocks so that the crabs could not escape. Then he went out into the woods to find something to start a fire with. He hoped there was something dry around here. He soon found some dry moss and a few pieces of dead wood. He knew it was going to be difficult to build a fire but he had done it before. It was a survival technique that he had to learn when he was in the Marines.

Mac walked back to the beach and set up to make his fire. He took a deep breath and then started working. He decided the easiest way might be to try and get a spark from two rocks. He started that and Jo finally started to stir. She opened her eyes and saw Mac squatted trying to make the fire. She pushed herself up on her hands and stared at him when she realized he was only wearing his underwear. She looked around them. She had almost forgotten that they made it to land too. She thought Mac looked incredibly sexy but she wondered why he was in his underwear. She noticed his clothes lying on the rocks. She cleared her throat.

Mac looked around at Jo. "Morning," he said.

"Morning," Jo replied and sat up. "That's quite a sight to wake up to."

Mac smiled a little shyly and grabbed his shirt. "Sorry," he said. "I was trying to let my clothes dry."

Jo crawled over to him. "It's alright," she said. "I think I'm going to do the same." She took off her shirts and she was wearing her bikini under them. "I'm glad I had this on."

"I'm glad we were able to keep our sandals on too."

When Jo had her clothes on the rocks, she ran her fingers through her hair. "I guess beauty is out of the question," she said.

Mac smiled. "You don't have to worry about that," he said.

Jo sat on a rock beside him and looked at what he was doing. "You know, there are other ways to do that," she said.

"I know but I thought I would try this first."

Jo looked out across the ocean. "So, where's the bathroom?"

Mac pretended to consider that. "About anywhere," he said.

"Have you looked around?"

"I went out in there to find some wood for this but I didn't go far yet."

Jo folded her arms. "I hope there are no wild animals on this island."

"There aren't usually. I think this is a deserted island."

Jo frowned. "I'm scared, Mac," she said. "What are we going to do?"

Mac looked at her. "I don't know," he admitted. "For now, we're going to try and build this fire and we'll survive."

"How?"

"There are ways."

Mac worked until he finally got a spark into the dry moss and it started to smoke. Jo smiled. "You got it," she said.

They blew gently on the smoking ember and finally got a small flame. Mac built the fire up and they found more wood. "We have to keep this going," he said. "I don't want to have to build it again and we better build one in a place that is sheltered too. We have to find out what our options are in case we're here a while."

Jo hugged Mac's arm. "Do you think they will ever find us?" she asked.

"They'll realize we're gone when the ship gets to Hawaii," Mac said. "They should start to search for us and try to find out what happened to us."

Jo did not think that was very reassuring and she did not think Mac sounded very convinced. Mac looked at her. "At least we have each other," he said.

Jo looked at him. "I'm glad," she said. She leaned on his shoulder. It would be a lot worse to be here alone.

Jo looked out across the ocean. "You know, this would be a beautiful place if it weren't for the circumstances we're in," she said.

Mac looked at the beautiful view. "Yes, it is beautiful," he agreed. He looked at the muscles he was cooking but they were not open yet.

"What if we're stuck here a very long time?"

Mac swallowed. He did not want to think of that. He wanted to go back home. He had wanted a vacation but he did not want to stay here forever. "Well, we are on vacation for the next three weeks so let's pretend right now that we are actually on vacation and if nobody finds us by then, we can worry."

"Can we survive that long?"

Mac thought Jo was suddenly very pessimistic when she was usually optimistic about everything. "We can if we try."

"Do you think no one will notice we're missing for three weeks?" Jo asked.

Mac scowled. He was not sure whether they accounted for everyone when they left the boat at a port or not. He was sure they did when they arrived back at the departure point. He did not know when they would be missed but he knew they would eventually miss them and then they would have to figure out when they went missing and where they might have left the boat and by that time, Melinda and her others could be long gone and no one might suspect a thing.

Jo stood up. "Admit it, you're scared too," she said.

Mac looked up at her. "Yes, I admit I am a little scared but I am just trying not to think about it so much because I know we can't do anything about it."

Jo thought about her kids so far away. What would they think when they found out she was missing? What if they never found them? She would never get to see Tyler graduate from college or see Ellie graduate from school. She covered her face as she thought about that. Mac stood up beside her. "It will be alright, Jo," he said.

Jo walked away from him and folded her arms. "That's easy for you to say," she said. "You don't have any children to watch grow up because you never wanted the responsibility of being a father."

Mac frowned. He had never heard it put just like that but he could not deny it. That was exactly true. He thought Jo had a way of spouting out the bitter truth when she was angry or upset. "You're right," he admitted. "I guess I was a coward in that area."

Jo looked at him. "Why? You would have been a wonderful father."

Mac sighed. "I don't know but thinking about it now won't change anything."

"I'm sorry I said that."

"Why? It was true."

Jo stared at him. She was not sure whether he was upset about that comment or not. "I wasn't saying that I think you're a coward," she said. "You're one of the bravest men that I've ever met."

"But I was a coward about that. Claire had wanted to have a baby and I just kept putting it off and putting it off thinking that I wasn't ready for that responsibility and thinking that I wouldn't be a good father and…" Mac shook his head. "Well, I waited too long."

"I'll say," Jo said. "How old did you want to be? Fifty? Women do lose their ability to have babies, you know."

Mac nodded. "Yes, I know it but I just guess I didn't think of that."

"I think you haven't thought of a lot of things in life."

Mac looked at her. "Like what?"

"You don't think about your well-being, or who you're going to have around you when you get old or anything like that. No children, no grandchildren…oh, Mac, that just sounds like a miserable existence to me. What do you think is going to happen when you get old?"

Mac sat down and shifted the muscles and the crabs. "I guess I thought I would just go and live in a home somewhere and be forgotten."

"Nobody needs to be forgotten, Mac. I think it's just wonderful that you're godfather to Lucy. I think someday that will change your life when she grows up."

Mac looked at her. "Why?"

"Because she'll look up to you and she'll come and visit you and everything."

"So I guess I won't be alone."

Jo was wearing her red bikini. Mac looked up at her. "You are lucky that you were wearing that," he said. "At least you don't have to be out here in your underwear."

"There's not much different if you're asking me."

"But it's thicker."

Jo smiled. "Maybe."

Mac felt of his pants and found that they were dry so he put them on. "Is that better?" he asked.

"It wasn't bothering me that you were in your underwear," Jo said. "It's warm out here anyway." She sat down and closed her eyes and looked up toward the sun. "I guess I'll have a bronzed tan by the time I get back home."

"Maybe I will have some too. I've always been kinda pale."

"Trust me, it doesn't matter."

"I think these are ready now," Mac said referring to the muscles. "They're open. Maybe they won't be gritty."

"I want one of those crabs."

"I think they need to cook a little longer."

Jo sat down beside the fire. "How do we get these out?" she asked.

"We have to eat with our fingers," Mac said with a sly grin.

Jo smiled. "Honey, I was raised eating with my fingers. We love to eat with our fingers in the South."

Mac smiled. "You're quite a character, Jo Danville…Josephine."

Jo looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "Don't call me that."

"Why? It's your name."

"I don't like it." Jo looked at him. "Is 'Mac' your real name?"

"Yes," Mac said. "It's not short for anything."

"But I know your middle name."

Mac looked surprised. "What?"

"I found out your middle name."

"Don't tell me you spread it around the lab. Is that why everybody looks at me funny now?"

Jo laughed. "You're actually self-conscious about something, Mac Llewellyn Taylor."

Mac rolled his eyes and groaned. "I can't believe you know that."

"It's not so bad."

"Are you kidding? Do you know how much I had to take in school over that name? There was no way to keep it a secret after one person found out…and in the Marines!"

"We all have to bear something."

"Yeah well, I was called Lulu in the Marines when that was found out."

Jo laughed out loud at that. "That is the funniest thing I have ever heard."

"Ha ha ha, it wouldn't be funny to you if it was you, Josephine."

"Maybe it wouldn't, Lulu."

Mac shook his head. "So what are we going to do now? Call each other by those names?"

"I don't know. It might be fun."

"Why?"

"Because we're the only ones here and it can be our terms of endearment and we're the only ones who can get away with calling each other that."

"Endearment? I would rather call you baby or babe."

"I'm not a baby."

Mac shrugged. "You're mine."

Jo looked at him. "There goes that possession word again."

Mac looked at her. "I hope I'm yours too."

Jo stared at him a moment. "I guess I don't have much choice since we're the only two people on this island."

"Hey, I can live on this side and you can live on the other side and we can be rivals."

Jo could see that twinkle in his eye. "You're just impossible."

"I might be." Mac touched one of the crabs he was cooking and he thought they were ready now. "When we eat these, I guess we can go and explore a little."

"Sounds good to me."

Mac looked toward the woods. "I thought I heard some running water when I was out there trying to find wood," he said. "There might be a pool of fresh water out there."

"Good. I want some water."

"We'll see."


	8. Chapter 8

When they were done eating, Mac and Jo got their clothes back on and went into the woods to look around. Jo felt almost depressed as they went into the woods. Mac was trying to make the best of the situation but she did not feel like trying to make the best of it.

They finally came upon a pool of water that had a small brook running into it. Mac was amazed. "Wow just look at that," he said. "It's actually a running stream."

Mac knelt beside the water which was quite clear and in a rock bed. He tasted the water. "Unbelievable," he said and looked at Jo. "It's fresh water."

"Is it okay to drink it?" Jo asked.

"I would say yes but I want to go up there and see where it's coming from."

"Can I just stay here?"

Mac looked at her a moment. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

Jo sat down on a rock. "I just don't feel happy about this situation."

Mac put his hands on his hips. "I don't either, Jo, but I'm trying to make it as good as I can for us. We're here. There's nothing we can do about that. Sitting around moping is not going to help."

"I'll wait here for you."

Mac looked at her a moment and then shrugged. "Alright. I'll be back shortly."

Mac went up the small hill that the water was running over and walked back until he could not see the water anymore. He realized the water was coming from underground and was seeping from an area of moss and rocks. He thought the water must be coming from up in the hills somewhere. He would never have thought he would see something like that on an island. He figured that storm that came over had rained over this island and the water was coming from somewhere up there where the water pooled.

Mac walked back down to where Jo was. "The water is fine," he said and knelt beside the pool and drank all the water he wanted. It was cold and good. "Wonderful."

Jo was drinking the water too. "Oh, it's so cold."

When they were done there, they walked on and Mac showed Jo where the water was coming from. "Since it's coming from there, it must be pretty pure," Mac said.

"I guess if we don't keel over from fever or die of diarrhea, we'll know it's pure," Jo replied.

Mac shook his head. "Well, let's hope."

They walked on up the hill a little further and looked down the other side which was pretty steep. "Well, I guess we'll have to find another way down," Mac said.

"The last thing we need to do is get injured," Jo remarked.

"Yes I know."

Mac thought he would be depressed himself if he had to stay here a long time with Jo if she was going to be like that. They walked around until they found another way down the hill. As they were going down, they found a nest of spiders. Jo screamed and almost fell down the hill. "Mac! Get me out of here!" she yelled.

Mac had never seen her panic like that. "Just relax," he said. "We'll get away from them."

Jo was rubbing her legs as though she thought something was crawling on her. "I can't stand spiders!" she said. "Now I feel like something is crawling all over me."

Mac inspected her. "There's nothing on you."

"Can we just go back to our camp?"

"Jo, I want to know what all we have here. There could be some fruit trees out here somewhere."

"Fine, you look for them and I'm going back to the camp."

Mac watched her as she climbed back up the hill. "Jo, come on!" he said.

"NO! You go ahead. I'll be there when you get back!"

Mac could not believe it. He decided he would just let her go back. "Don't get lost," he said. He walked on down the hill and kept watch to make sure he did not step on anymore spider nests. He figured every place in the world would have insects and spiders no matter how remote it was.

As Mac went on, he soon knew that they were on this island alone. That was the main reason that he had wanted to explore more. He wanted to know it if there was someone else around here. He came to a clearing in the jungle. It actually had green grass and some rocks. He wished Jo had come on with him to see this. It was quite beautiful and he thought they could spend some of the time here especially when there was a storm or something. He did not want to be on that beach if a big storm came along.

Mac went on over to the rocks hoping that he would find a place that they could have shelter in case a really big storm came along. He climbed up onto the rocks and found a small opening which led into a cave. It would be perfect. He crawled in and found that it would make a perfect shelter for the both of them. He could try and make some sort of bed for them to sleep on since the floor of the cave was rock too. Mac thought it was amazing that this was here and he wondered what had carved it. He did not hear any water dripping inside the cave and there was no sign that anyone had been here.

Mac climbed down from the cave and stood in the clearing for a moment. He wondered how far it was to the beach on the other side of the island. He wanted to get a picture of how big the island was and see if they could see anything on the other side. He supposed he would have to get Jo over here to the cave first and then go over there the next day. He did not want to be gone until it was dark. Jo would probably think he got lost or got hurt out here. He shook his head. He had never seen Jo act like she was acting but he supposed a person never knew what they would do until they got in a situation.

Jo was sitting on the beach watching the waves when Mac came out of the jungle. She glanced at him and then looked back out at the ocean. "So what did you find?" she asked.

"I found a cave in a clearing out there," Mac said. "I think we should move to it so that when a storm comes, we'll have shelter."

"Why not just stay here?"

Mac stared at her a moment. "I just told you. We have to have shelter if a storm comes. You never know what's out there coming this way."

"Whatever you say," Jo said and stood up.

Mac scowled. "What is wrong?" he asked. "I'm trying to…"

"I know, I know…you're trying to make the best of the situation," Jo said. She folded her arms. "I may be acting like a whiny baby but I don't feel like making the best of the situation. I don't like being here."

"You don't have to like it but I don't see anyway out," Mac said as he gestured at the ocean. "Do you have to act like this every time I try to make things better? Are you afraid you might actually enjoy something and forget that you're lost?"

"Let's just go!"

Mac shook his head and grumbled under his breath as he made a torch to carry some fire with them. He certainly did not want to have to make another fire. Jo watched as he wrapped dried moss and some other things around a stick tightly so that he could make a torch. She knew she was being impossible but she had to be impressed with how he knew how to survive. "Where did you learn to do that?" she asked.

Mac looked at Jo. "I don't know," he said. "I guess I saw it somewhere."

"And you just naturally know how to do it."

Mac rolled his eyes. "If you don't like it because I'm trying to make things work for us, you can always stay by yourself," he said. "I will try not to help you."

Jo kicked sand at Mac. "That was a mean thing to say."

Mac stood up and stared at her. "You complain about everything I do," he said. "What's wrong with you? You're a tough woman at home but what is wrong with you now?"

Jo stared at him a moment. "I guess I feel vulnerable here," she said. "And I'm not complaining! It just irritates me that you act like you're not worried about anything!"

Mac blew out a breath. "I am worried," he said. "Okay? I'm worried! I shake inside sometimes when I think of where we are and think about how long we could be here. Does that make you feel better? Just because I'm scared doesn't mean I'm going to sit down here and feel sorry for myself."

Jo frowned. She did not know why she felt so irritable toward him. She supposed she just wanted to be angry at someone and he was the only person around. "I'm sorry," she said. "You're probably going to hear that a lot because you're the only person I have around here to fuss at."

Mac chuckled and shook his head. "Well, okay then," he said. He finally got his torch ready and lit it on fire. "Now, let's see if we can get this to the cave without burning up the whole island," he said. He looked at Jo. "I know you're scared and worried but let's try to make the best of it until we can do better."

"Okay, but if I say something I shouldn't, just ignore me," Jo said.

"I'll try to remember that."

Mac left the fire burning on the beach in case they didn't make it to the cave with the torch. They headed into the jungle of palm trees and other tropical plants that were growing here on this island. "Don't you think it's amazing that all this is growing here?" Jo asked. "I mean, how did it get here?"

Mac shook his head. "I don't know but yes, it's amazing."

Mac picked up some firewood on the way and so did Jo. They finally made it to the clearing, avoiding the spider nest this time. "I should have come with you earlier," Jo said.

Mac looked at her. "Don't worry about it," he said.

"You know what I did while you were gone?"

"What?"

"I sat there and cried my eyes out thinking about my kids and that I might never see them again."

Mac frowned. "I'm sorry about this, Jo. I should have paid more attention to your worries while we were on the ship."

"This is not your fault."

"Well, she was after me, not you and you just got dragged into the mess."

"I guess that's what happens when you love someone."

Mac looked at her as he was starting to climb up the rocks. He reached for Jo's hand and helped her get up where he was as they were carrying the firewood in one arm. "If we can get up there, at least we won't have to do this again," Mac said. "At least until we have to have more wood."

They soon got up into the cave and Mac fixed a fire so they could see better. "Nice place," Jo said. "I guess this will be our first little abode."

Mac smiled. "It's not much but it's all I can afford right now," he said.

"Oh well, I wasn't marrying you for your money anyway. I just want your body."

Mac almost laughed out loud. How could they go from arguing to talking like this? He remembered how that could happen. He knew he loved Jo. "Well, I want yours too," he said just to see her reaction.

Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "I am dirty and sweaty so don't even think about it."

Mac smiled. "You can always go wash in the ocean."

"Maybe I will."

Mac got the fire fixed in an indention in the floor and put some wood on it. He looked at Jo. "I'll see what I can find for us to eat," he said. "Maybe there's some sort of fruit tree on this island."

"I hope," Jo replied. "I'll go with you."


	9. Chapter 9

Mac and Jo climbed down from their cave and started through the woods again. They were going on toward the other side of the island. "Hopefully we can get there and back before dark," Mac said. "If we can't, I guess we can spend the night on the beach over there."

Jo grasped Mac's hand and looked at him. "Now, I feel better," she said.

Mac smiled and kissed her. "How's that?"

"Even better."

They walked on through the jungle looking up in the trees as they went. "There are some coconuts," Mac said. "Although I have never known how to get one down from there."

"You have to climb the tree," Jo said.

Mac laughed. "I have never been good at that and I can't imagine trying to climb one that doesn't even have limbs."

"Me neither."

"We may have to eat some coconut if we can't find anything else but seafood."

"You know that coconut milk is the healthiest thing you can drink and coconut is even used for a medicine?"

Mac looked at her. "Yes, I know it, and we'll eat the coconut for vitamins and coconuts have a lot of uses. They're even used for medicines and they're highly nutritious."

"I've heard that, read about it. I guess if we can't find anything else, we can survive on coconuts."

"I guess that's why they grow on a deserted island. If you can't find anything else, you can live on them."

"Quite an excellent plan."

They soon came to a tangle of vines that seemed endless. "Wow, this reminds me of Tarzan," Jo said. "You think we could really climb up one of these vines."

Mac held one between his hands and pulled on it. "Well, they seem indestructible to me," he said. He looked up in the tree that the vine was hanging from. "Question is: how do we get one down to use for a rope?"

Jo looked up. "We don't have a knife or anything," she said.

Mac looked up at the vine again. He jerked the vine very hard and it popped at the top and came falling down. Mac stepped back as the vine cascaded to the ground. Jo stared at it with her mouth open and then looked at Mac. "Well, I got it down," Mac said.

Jo shook her head. "Well, I guess that means you can't climb one."

"Yes, but not while it's attached to the tree. I'll show you." Mac jerked some more vines down and rolled them up like ropes. He looked at Jo. "I'll show you."

"You're something else, you know that?"

"I try to be."

Mac and Jo went on walking. "What are we eating for lunch?" Jo asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Mac said. "If we make it to the other side of this island, I guess we can eat seafood again."

"We should try and get some coconuts."

"I'll do that tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?"

"Cause I'll be ready by then."

Jo did not know what he meant by that but she would not argue. She had been complaining enough since they had been here. She would be fascinated to know what he was going to do with those vines.

As they walked on, they realized that they had plenty of coconuts to survive on for a long time. Not only were there coconuts on the trees, but there were some on the ground too. "We have to figure out how to make something to carry things in," Jo said.

"I've been thinking about that," Mac replied.

"Oh really? Have you figured anything out yet?"

"Not yet but I'm thinking."

Jo looked up at the Palm trees. She could even see small coconuts on the trees and green ones as well. "I wonder how often they make coconuts," she said.

"I don't know," Mac said. "I have never studied that."

"Neither have I but right now I wish I knew."

As they walked on through the jungle, Mac saw a tree with some yellowish orange fruits on it. He smiled and looked at Jo who was watching the ground. "Hey, look up there," he said.

Jo looked up and her mouth dropped open. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

"Mangos," Mac said and looked at Jo. "I know those are going to taste good."

"I hope that means there are more fruits around here."

Jo looked up at the tree. "I think that it is going to be harder to get those down than it is to get the coconuts," she said.

"We'll figure it out together," Mac said. "Right now, I want to see how much further it is to the other side of this island."

They walked for another hour and finally started hearing the ocean again. "Well, that means this island is only about ten or fifteen miles wide," Mac said.

"It didn't look very long," Jo said.

"No, so we'll know how long it takes to get from one side to the other and we could always walk 'around' the island."

"It would probably be better than walking through all this."

"But we need to get back to our cave soon."

They soon came out of the jungle onto the beach again. The sand was so white, it was dazzling when they came from the shade of the jungle. "Wow, that is so beautiful," Jo said.

Mac nodded. He almost wanted to forget that they were lost. He looked out across the ocean and could see another small island. He knew it could be just as deserted as the one they were on now and it was far away. "Let's walk around a while and see what we can find," Mac said. He laid the vines down on the sand in the shade so they would not dry out too much before he got to them.

They walked down the beach and Jo got over in the edge of the water. "This place is just glorious if we weren't lost," she said.

Mac nodded. "I know," he replied. "But since we can't get anywhere else right now, I would rather make the best of it and just be glad that we're together instead of alone."

Jo hugged Mac's arm. "I am glad, Mac. It would be horrible to be out here alone."

Mac nodded. "Very lonely."

As they walked along, they came to a crate on the beach along with some other debris from a boat. It was not a big crate but a wooden crate, nevertheless. "What on earth could be in that?" Jo wondered out loud.

Mac looked at the crate trying to figure out how to open it. Jo picked up a rock and gave it to him. "Try this," she said.

Mac looked at the rock and wondered if that would work. He figured he might as well try it. He found a place where the top stuck out further than the box and started to try and pound it upward with the rock. It was not an easy task but finally the lid started to come loose. They were finally able to pull the lid off and looked inside.

"This looks like it must have fallen off a boat," Mac said.

"That crate looks pretty old," Jo said.

"Everything in here is preserved though." He pulled a first aid kit from the box and looked at Jo. "I guess we'll have some medical stuff for a while." He also pulled two blankets from the box.

"Wow," Jo said. "This is luck."

"Absolutely."

"I guess we can take all this back to our little abode."

Mac pulled something else from the box and looked at Jo. She stared at the knife which was in a leather sheath. "Well, that's something we definitely needed," she said.

Mac pulled the knife from the sheath and checked to see if it was sharp. "Definitely," he said. "This will make things easier."

"Maybe. It won't help with getting fish or anything."

"Those muscles and crabs will come up there and get on those rocks like that all the time," Mac said. "We can eat those and we can eat the coconut too and those mangos."

"I can't wait to see you climb up there and get those."

"Everything falls off eventually. When they fall off, you know they're absolutely ripe."

"But they might be squashed after falling that far."

"Probably not. They'll have a lot of cushion."

"So how do you preserve fruits and things without a refrigerator or without the ability to can them?"

Mac looked at Jo. "I don't know, but maybe we'll figure it out if we're here long enough, but we don't really have to preserve them because they grow year round."

"I suppose, but isn't there any time that those trees rest?"

"I don't know. I have not studied them that closely."

"So you just really don't know anything about them, do you?"

"I know they taste good. What else do I need to know? I know that I'm not allergic to them."

Jo folded her arms. "Okay, I was just testing you."

"Why?"

"Because you seem to know about everything else."

Mac gathered up the supplies they had found which even included a backpack, and gave the first aid kit to Jo. "Well, I don't have anything to say," he said. "Except that I'm hungry."

"So, what are we going to eat?"

"What do you want?"

"Those muscles and crabs were pretty good. I guess those were the freshest I have ever eaten." Jo sighed. "I can't wait to eat peas and cornbread again. When I get off this island, that is what I am going to eat and I am going to eat cornbread and milk."

Mac looked at her. "Don't talk about good food like that."

Mac put the blankets into the backpack and put the knife on his belt. Then they walked on. They soon came to more rocks and found some muscles, crabs and even a lobster. Mac tried to pick the lobster up but he learned for real that the claws were not just for show.

"OW!" Mac yelled as he felt the lobster's claw clamp down on his finger. "Get it off!"

Jo was laughing as she saw the lobster hanging on Mac's hand. "I wish I had a camera now!" she said.

"JO, get it off!"

Jo got some surgical tape from the first aid kit and taped the lobster's other claw and then she managed to get the one off Mac's hand. She then taped that claw. She looked at Mac. "There is a reason why those claws are taped shut when you buy a lobster in the store," she said.

Mac looked at her as he was slinging his hand. "I know that," he said. "I thought I had him where he couldn't get me." He looked at his finger which was bleeding a little. "That hurt!"

"Aw, you poor baby."

Mac looked at her. "Don't say that," he said.

"You're just lucky that was not a really big lobster. If it was, he could have broken a finger for you."

Mac blew out a breath. "I think we'll just stick to the crabs," he said.

"Well, they have pincers too."

"Not like that."

Mac took the lobster and looked at it. "I'm going to dine on you tonight," he said.

Jo snickered. "I'm sure he's terrified," she said. "Threatening that poor thing when he's been rendered helpless."

"Ha ha. How do you know it's a 'he'?"

Jo folded her arms. "Don't get cute with me."

"Cute? You were laughing at me when I was in real pain."

Jo had to hold her laugh back. "If you could have seen yourself with that lobster hanging on your finger like that, you would have laughed too."

Mac stared at her a moment. "Okay, I'll remember that. If something bites you or something, I'll try not to laugh."

"Please."

Mac squatted and looked beside the rocks again to see if there were anymore muscles and crabs. Jo leaned over his shoulder to look. "Beware of those lobsters," she said.

Mac shook his head as he heard her snicker. "Very funny."

Mac felt Jo's arm slide around him as she kissed the back of his neck. "I love you, Mac," she said as she leaned on his back.

Mac picked her hand up and kissed it. "I love you too."

They soon had a few more muscles and even some oysters. "Should we eat those oysters?" Jo asked.

Mac looked at them. "I don't know. I think I would rather just let them go rather than risk getting sick."

They gathered up everything and headed back to the jungle. "Mac, how can we make something to carry things in?" Jo asked. "Or something to cook things in?"

"We'll figure that out," Mac replied. He hoped they would not be here so long that they would actually need something that badly.

Mac picked up his vines as they were going back into the jungle. As they were walking through the jungle, they noticed that it started to get cloudy and the humidity was oppressive. "We need to hurry," Mac said.

"A storm is coming," Jo said.

They moved as quickly as they could, stopping to pick up some coconuts from the ground as they went. "How are we going to get all this up to the cave?" Jo asked. "Take a little at a time?"

"That's the only way I see to do it," Mac replied. "I'll use the backpack to get everything up there."

By the time they arrived at the cave, it was really starting to get darker and the wind was blowing. "Oh, Mac, what if this is a hurricane?" Jo asked.

Mac did not know how to answer that. He knew that the cave was elevated but he also knew that when hurricanes came along, some islands were completely covered. "I didn't hear anything about any hurricanes over here in the Pacific before we left on the cruise," he said. "I don't think that's what this is. It's probably just a storm. Storms occur over here because of the humidity and the water."

They laid everything down that they could not carry and went up into the cave. Mac emptied the backpack and quickly climbed down to get more. He soon had everything in the cave and he was just in time because the rain started to pour. "I guess some of that fruit will fall now," Jo remarked trying to talk over the sound of the rain.

"Yeah," Mac agreed. He took his shirt off. "It's hot in here."

Jo took the muscles and crabs and the lobster and put them beside the fire. "We can make bowls out of some of the coconut shells," Mac said as he was looking at the coconut in his hand. "I've never actually opened one of these. I've seen it done on TV but it is a big task."

"I know," Jo agreed. "I'm tired. I'm going to rest a while." She took her shirt off and got her blanket and lay down.

Mac yawned as he leaned back against the wall of the cave. He could already smell the seafood cooking. He dozed while he listened to the rain. He was just glad they had a shelter. They could have been on an island with nothing but trees and sand. Mac woke up a short time later when his head fell forward. He looked around him and rubbed his face. He could hear the rain still falling and could hear thunder as well. He looked at the seafood that was still cooking. It was not ready yet but it certainly smelled good. The next thing Mac knew, Jo was waking him up with a kiss. He held her in the kiss making it a little longer.

"I think the food is ready," Jo said.

"Good," Mac replied. "I'm starving."

They got the seafood and started eating. "Have you ever tasted anything this good?" Jo asked.

"No," Mac said. "I've never had anything this fresh."

"Right out of the sea."

When they were done eating, they laid down on the blankets and listened to the rain. "I wonder how long it will rain," Jo said.

"No way to know," Mac replied. He looked at his watch. "At least we'll have a watch for a while. This battery is supposed to last five years. I just got it this year. The time here should be about what time it is in Hawaii so it is about five o'clock here."

"Eleven in New York. I wonder if they even know we're missing yet."

Mac wondered about that himself. "I hope so."

"Mac, turn over this way."

Mac felt Jo's hand on his chest. He looked at her and turned over to face her. She caressed his face and kissed him. They shared a long, intimate kiss and Mac pulled Jo closer to him as they groped each other. They stared at each other in the dim light of the fire. "Mac, I love you," Jo whispered.

Mac ran his fingers through her hair. "I love you too," he whispered and kissed her gently. He ran his fingers across her stomach and watched her reaction. He smiled a mischievous smile and kissed her stomach causing her to gasp.

Jo thought she would die as she felt his hands coming up her sides and kissing her chest and neck. She had to admit it had been a long time for her. "Don't stop," she whispered.

Mac leaned over her and kissed her lips. "I don't intend to."


	10. Chapter 10

Mac woke up later and could still hear it raining but it seemed to be slacker than it was. He yawned as he sat up. He looked at Jo who was still sleeping. He hoped they could get off this island and enjoy some sort of life together. He supposed he should be glad they were together now but he did not want to stay here forever. He sat up and rubbed his neck. A rock did not make a good bed. He moved over to his vines that he had collected that day and took the knife out of the sheath.

Mac split the vines open from one end to the other and found the fibers inside which he could make into rope. He had never made rope like this but he knew how because he had been taught how by his father. He pulled the fibers from the vines. Alone, the fibers were not much but when they were woven together, they were strong as a rope and the vines were long so he could make a pretty long rope. He tied the fiber ends together on one end and began his braiding. He heard it thunder outside. He could not sleep right now so he would work on the rope. He looked at Jo as he was braiding and thought of their time together tonight. He wondered what she would say when she woke up. He thought that was why he could not sleep. He had pulled away again. He hoped she would not be angry at him. He wondered if he was angry at himself. He could not help but remember what happened between himself and Melinda. He did not want it to be that way with Jo.

Mac braided the fibers until his hands were sore but he kept going and he finally got sleepy. He leaned against the wall and kept braiding until he thought he was braiding them in his sleep.

Jo woke up the next morning feeling rested. She realized Mac was not lying beside her and she saw him sitting against the wall asleep. She smiled at him as she remembered the night before. She knew he respected her and she knew he loved her. She crawled over to him and saw the rope he had been braiding. She picked it up and looked at it. She stared at Mac wondering how he knew how to do all this. She moved on over to him and kissed him.

Mac started to wake up as he felt Jo's kiss. "Morning," he said without opening his eyes.

"I see you've been busy," Jo said.

Mac nodded slightly. Jo wondered how long he had been up working but from the looks of the rope, she thought it must have been a long time because he had woven about twenty feet of rope. "Mac, wake up," Jo said.

Mac took a deep breath. "I don't want to," he said.

"The rain has stopped."

Mac opened his eyes and looked at her. "So it has."

Jo moved even closer to him. "I enjoyed last night," she said.

Mac looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry about that," he said.

"Why? You shouldn't go against your feelings."

"I don't want to do with you what I did with Melinda. I love you and I don't want to just give in to lust."

Jo touched his face. "I don't either but I want to give in to love one of these days."

Mac kissed her hand. "We will."

Jo looked at the rope. "Where did you learn to do this?" she asked.

"My father taught me."

"You're amazing."

Mac smiled. "I don't know about that but I try to survive. I didn't go get anything to eat this morning." He looked at his watch and it was late in the morning now. He looked at the coconuts which were still inside their green shells. He supposed he needed to open those up if he could. He remembered what kind of knife people used to open a coconut. He had nothing like that but he would use what he had. He also wanted to finish his rope. He looked at Jo. "I suppose we could go and see if some of the mangos fell in the storm."

"Wonderful. I would love that."

Mac put his white shirt back on but did not button it and Jo put her light blue one on. "I sure am glad we had these on," Jo said.

Mac picked up one of the coconuts. "We'll get one of these open when we get back," he said. "I watched a guy open one of these online once."

"I'm sure we can figure it out."

They climbed down out of the cave and found that the storm had made the ground very soggy and had blown some leaves and things onto the ground. "It's so humid," Jo said.

"I guess we could have left the shirts off."

Jo smiled at him. "I don't mind seeing you without a shirt."

"I wouldn't want to get anything from any of these plants."

They walked out into the jungle and found the mango tree again. They searched the ground and found a few mangos. They put them into the backpack and walked on. "Those have to be delicious," Jo said.

"I agree." Mac shifted the backpack on his back. "They're pretty heavy though."

When they came to the beach, the sun was shining bright on the sand again. "I'm going to find some more seafood to eat," Mac said.

"Watch out for those lobsters," Jo replied with a smile.

Mac looked at her. "I will, Josephine."

"Watch it, Lulu."

"Where are you going?"

"Just over here for a few minutes."

"Alright."

Mac went on over to the rocks and searched for some more muscles and found more this time than there were the day before. He thought they must have collected there during the storm. "You fellas just stay here," he said. "We'll need you soon."

As he looked around more, he found a bunch of young crabs but they were not ready to eat yet. He found some larger ones and even some clams. He wrinkled his nose at those. He had never liked clams. It was like eating rubber.

Just then, Mac heard Jo scream. He jumped up and ran toward where she was. She was over behind some rocks. As Mac approached, he heard her say, "You little devil. I'll eat you for that."

Mac peeped around the rocks and his eyes got wide as he saw that Jo was naked. He moved back around the rock but then he peeped again and realized that she was washing. He swallowed hard as he was filled with desire. He backed around the rocks and rolled his eyes at himself. "What do you think you're doing?" he whispered to himself. He walked back down to where he had been searching. He collected a few more muscles and found two more crabs. He thought maybe he could use some freshening up himself. After all, there were no razors and there was no deodorant. He thought he might use that knife to shave with before he would grow a long, thick beard. He was already growing some stubble, of course because they had been here two nights and a day.

Mac stripped down and jumped into the water. He had not wanted to get into the water after that long swim they had to get here. He made sure to pay attention to important areas as he cleaned himself. He did not want to smell like a pole cat. He floated on the water a minute while the sun shone on him. It was warm and felt good. He did not want to stay in there too long because he knew Jo would be coming and looking for him. He finished washing and then washed his clothes as well. He laid them on a rock to dry as he sat on one to dry himself. He looked out across the ocean at the small island in the distance. He knew it could be much further away than it looked because of the curve of the earth. He sighed as he looked at it. He wondered if there were people over there and he wondered if anyone had noticed that they were missing yet.

"Mac!"

Mac was startled. He grabbed his shirt and put it over him just as Jo came around the rocks. She almost gasped. "I'm sorry," she said and backed up. "How long before you're ready to go?"

"I was just letting my clothes dry," Mac said.

"I guess that's a little easier for me, isn't it? I guess I'll go back down here."

Mac wondered what she would think if she knew he had seen her naked. Jo walked back down the beach. She put her hands on her face thinking that it must be red. She had not known he was sitting over there naked. She was wearing her bikini but he did not have any kind of bathing suit or anything. She strolled back down the beach as she thought about Mac. She thought if there was one man in the world that she could spend the rest of her life with, it would be him and here she was stranded on an island with him. She folded her arms thinking of how much she would like for him to make love to her but she certainly would not push him. She knew one day he would take her in his arms and love her.

Mac leaned back on the rocks and thought about what it would be like if they had to be here a long time. He remembered watching a movie something like this where a boy and girl were stranded on an island together. He did not even know if Jo could get pregnant anymore. He could not imagine going through something like that here on this island alone with no help at all. Of course, they were two scientists…surely they could figure it out if it came to that. Mac shook his head. What was he thinking? He did not want it to come to that…but he knew what was stirring between them and if they started something like that, there would be nothing to prevent what follows it. He thought maybe that was what made him so apprehensive about it and maybe he just used that situation with Melinda as an excuse. He certainly did not want to discuss this with Jo. It would be an awkward conversation to say the least.

Jo sat down on the rocks and let the wind blow through her hair and dry it. She thought of how long they could be here as she looked out toward the other island. She rubbed her legs. She supposed she would have to lose some of her pride since there would be no way to get rid of hair. She had noticed Mac's stubble already growing. She wondered how long his beard would get and she wondered if he could shave it with the knife. She would not have too big a problem with that because now that she was older, the hair on her legs did not grow as fast anyway and not as thick. She supposed that was one good thing about getting older. She wondered what Mac would think of that. He was not used to seeing women who were not well-groomed.

Jo folded her arms. She hoped they would be rescued before she became a cave woman. She felt of her clothes which were still damp but were drying quickly on those hot rocks with the wind blowing on them and the sun shining down. She decided to walk down the beach further so she put her sandals back on. She certainly did not want to step on anything. She was glad these sandals were new. Maybe they would last until they got off this island.

Jo looked toward the bunch of rocks that Mac was sitting on. She could not see him from where she was. She walked that way, letting her curiosity get the best of her. She stopped when she was halfway there and put her hands on her hips. "What is wrong with you, Jo Danville?" she asked herself. "What do they call a female peeping-tom? A peeping kitty?" She looked toward the rocks that Mac was hiding behind and walked a little closer. She wondered if he was swimming. She finally reached the rocks and eased around the side.

Just as Jo was about to peep around the corner of the rock, Mac was coming around the rock. Jo screamed as she was startled. Mac almost dropped the backpack. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Jo stared at him a moment trying to get her breath back. "Nothing," she said. "Are you ready to go?"

Mac looked down at himself. "I guess so. I'm dressed…although my clothes are a little damp."

Jo folded her arms as she was still in her bikini. "I guess I better go and get mine," she said.

"I'll wait for you."

Mac watched her walk down the beach as a smile spread across his face. He knew what she had been about to do…the same thing he had done. Jo looked around at him. "What is so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing," Mac said, trying to use the same inflection she had used on the word.

"OH you!"

Mac laughed as Jo stomped off. He knew she was going to be mad at him for that but he did not care. She was trying to sneak around and see him…although he had done the same thing. He walked over to the edge of the jungle and waited for her. Jo soon came back to him. "I know what you're thinking," she said.

"Do you?" Mac asked. "What am I thinking?"

"You know what you're thinking."

Mac smiled as Jo went on into the jungle. He followed her as he got the backpack onto his back. "You think I was trying to see you naked," Jo said.

"I never said that," Mac replied.

"But that's what you think."

Mac laughed. "Well, weren't you?"

Jo stopped and looked at him. "You would just love that, wouldn't you?"

Mac could hardly keep his composure. "Don't get mad at me. I can't help it because you're curious about the male form."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "Why you! May I remind you that we're on a deserted island? If I hurt you, nobody will know it!"

Mac was laughing. "Okay, now, just relax."

"Don't tell me to relax! How do I know that you didn't peep at me?"

Mac's smile faded. "Do you think I'm that kind of man?"

Jo stared at him a moment. "You scoundrel! You did!"

"I didn't! I heard you scream and I came down there to see what was wrong. I didn't know you were bathing."

"That is some excuse."

"I'm sorry."

"So what did you see?" Jo asked.

Mac stared at her a moment. "I saw…a beautiful woman."

"Good answer, Casanova."

"I am not a Casanova."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Let's go."

Mac followed her. "By the way, what were you screaming about?" he asked.

"A crab pinched me!" Jo said.

Mac almost laughed. "And I heard you say, 'I'm going to eat you for that'."

Jo gave him a fake glare. "And I would have if he hadn't gotten away."

"You're going to eat him just because he pinched your toe?"

"He didn't pinch my toe!"

Mac looked at her back as she was moving again. "What did he pinch?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know!"

Mac could not help but laugh. "What did you do, sit on it?"

"Shut up!"

Mac laughed out loud then and had to stop. "You're an adventure all rolled into one person, woman."

"You'll see what kind of adventure I am when I get hold of you, man."

Mac could not see Jo now but he could hear her. He went on after her. He thought this was going to be a very interesting time on this island…


	11. Chapter 11

They soon arrived back at the cave. Jo looked at Mac. "Well, you go first," she said.

"Why?" Mac asked. "What if I drop the backpack? It could hurt you. Or what if you fall? You can fall on me and I'll cushion your fall."

Jo glared at him as she saw that twinkle in his eye and he was clearly trying to keep from smiling. "You are impossible."

"I know. I'm just set in my ways." Mac scowled. "Why do you want me to go first?"

Jo rolled her eyes. "Oh, never mind."

Mac smiled as Jo started to climb up. When her behind was even with his face, he said, "Nice butt."

Jo looked down at him. "Oh, you're going to get it."

Mac chuckled to himself. He had known exactly why she wanted him to go first. She thought he was staring at her now that he had seen her naked. He looked up at her. He had to admit he had to be careful or his thoughts wandered. He smiled as he started to climb up. He thought he had not had this much fun in years. Even if they were stranded, he was enjoying himself.

Jo got up into the cave and waited for Mac. He climbed in and stared at her a moment. "Now, don't push me out," he said.

Jo folded her arms. "I wish I had a pillow right now. We would have us a good old fashioned pillow fight that leaves feathers flying."

"Kinky."

Mac laughed as he knew he was just pushing her buttons. "Okay, I'm sorry," he said as she hit him on the shoulder. "I love playing with you."

Jo almost smiled herself. "Is this your idea of foreplay?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "Now, I didn't say that."

"You just like to tease me."

"I do. I love to see that fire in your eyes."

Jo stared at him a moment. She did not know what to say to that. "You have a whole different person hidden under all that front you put on at work," she said.

Mac put the backpack down and unzipped it. "I'm acting in my professional capacity then," he said.

"I would like to see this side of you once in a while."

Mac smiled. "You will from now on because…" He looked at her. "Because I don't ever want to be away from you again."

"Well, now you're just being charming."

"You don't like charming?"

"Yes, I like it." Jo took her shirt off so that she was in her bikini top. She looked at Mac. "You realize that I won't be groomed for much longer, don't you?"

Mac scowled. "What?"

Jo frowned. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about. You were married once. Surely you know what all your wife did to look beautiful."

"Oh," Mac said with a nod. He shrugged. "Jo, I am probably going to become a hairy beast that you don't even want near you much less kissing you and I'm not going to think anything of your natural body form either."

Jo looked at the stubble on Mac's face. "You look rugged," she said.

"Is that good or bad?"

"Well, I don't know. What are you going to think when I have hairy legs?"

Mac shook his head. "Jo, you worry about too many things," he said. "I know you can't do anything about it." He took the mangos out of the backpack. "That's a lot of the problems today…people worry too much about appearances and all that." He looked at Jo. "You're a beautiful person inside and it shows in your eyes."

Jo stared at him a moment. "You drive me crazy," she said.

"Do I?"

"Yes. What will it take for me to drive you crazy?"

Mac looked at her. He did not even want her to know how much she stirred him at the moment. He was not sure why. There was no one around anywhere here. No one would tease him or stare at them.

Jo leaned on her elbow and cradled her chin in her hand. "What goes on in that mind of yours?" she asked.

Mac glanced at her and kept on emptying the backpack. He took the crabs and muscles out. "You're not going to tell me, are you?" Jo asked.

"Tell you what?" Mac asked.

"What you think…what you feel…how you feel about me."

Mac looked at her. "I've already told you that I love you."

"Do you really? Or do you just say it because I've said I love you?"

Mac scowled. "You think I'm just saying that?"

Jo thought about what she said. "No," she said.

"I don't just say I love you for nothing."

"I know that. I guess I just wonder why you don't want to be close to me."

Mac sighed. "I do want to be close to you. I just…"

Jo moved over to the fire and put some more sticks of wood on it. "I guess you'll let me know when you're ready," she said.

Mac sat down against the wall. "I told you what happened before with Melinda," he said. "Is that the way you want our first time to be?"

"It wouldn't be like that. You didn't love her."

"I know but…"

"There are no buts, Mac. You didn't love her and you do love me. That's a big difference."

"It's wasn't you, Jo." Mac looked at her. "What if it was you? What if some man kidnapped you and did that to you?"

Jo had never thought of it like that. People called men sexist but she thought it probably worked both ways. Women had stereotyped men too. She had not even thought of how that situation must have made Mac feel inside. Even though he had sex with Melinda willingly, it was still against his will because he was under the influence of a hypnotic suggestion. "I'm sorry, Mac. I haven't even considered your feelings."

"It doesn't matter. I haven't exactly expressed them either."

Mac put the muscles and crabs over beside the fire. Then he picked up one of the coconuts. "Well, I think it's about time we had some coconut milk," he said. "It is good for us and tastes good too."

"I have never in my life peeled a coconut like that," Jo said.

"Neither have I but I have seen it done."

Jo moved over beside Mac. "I want to see this," she said.

Mac smiled at her. He got the knife and turned the coconut around. "This is a young coconut so it is not fibrous in there yet," he said. "Some of those are older and we can use those for cups to drink water out of when we get the coconut out."

Mac pointed at the end of the coconut. "You have to start here at the flower because that is the softest part," he said.

Jo watched as Mac stuck the knife blade up under the coconut flower and cut around the top. He pulled that part off and then stuck the knife in and milk spewed into Jo's face. Jo's mouth dropped open and she looked at Mac. "Oops," Mac said.

Jo wiped the milk off her face. "That better not have been on purpose," she said.

"I promise, it wasn't."

Mac cut a hole in the top and gave it to Jo. "You can drink from that," he said.

Jo drank some of the coconut milk. "Yuck," she said. "But I'll drink it anyway."

Mac smiled and fixed himself one and drank the milk. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked. He picked up one of the brown coconuts. "This one is the one that will be the monster. This one is ripe."

Mac got the knife and stuck it into the ripe coconut. He split it down the side and the pulled the knife out. He looked at Jo. "I hope I can do this," he said.

"Go ahead. I want to see it."

Mac got his fingers into the seam that he had cut and pulled. The thing was tough to say the least. He looked at Jo. "You wanta try?" he asked.

"No, you're doing fine," Jo said. "I know I can't do that."

Mac got up on his knees and put more strength into the task and finally ripped a piece of the outer covering off the coconut. He looked at Jo. "Well, there's one piece," he said and started to pull on the next piece.

When Mac finally ripped the outer shell off the coconut and had the brown ball with three eyes. "You know, I'll just bet this is where they got the idea for a bowling ball," he said.

"You like to bowl?" Jo asked.

"Yes. I go bowling occasionally."

"Me too. It's a lot of fun."

"It is." Mac held the coconut on the floor of the cave and took a rock in his hand. "Well, here goes nothing," he said.

Jo watched as Mac hit the coconut on one side and then on the other. It then split all the way around. She looked at him with amazement. "How did you do that?" she asked.

"I watched somebody do it once," Mac said.

"You just remember everything, don't you? Do you ever forget anything?"

"Of course. There are a lot of things I 'wish' I could forget."

Jo moved closer to him. "Like what?" she asked.

"Things about the war but then again, I would never want to forget."

"There are things I would like to forget." Jo sat down beside Mac.

Mac looked at her. "Well, this had changed into a somber conversation," he said. "I liked it before when we were ribbing each other."

Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you see today?" she asked.

"What did you see?"

"I didn't see anything. You had your shirt over you."

Mac smiled as he was shucking another coconut. "Well, I…" He looked at Jo. "I told you I saw a beautiful woman."

"That is not enough, you scoundrel. Did you see everything?"

Mac looked up at the ceiling and then at Jo. "Well, why didn't you tell me that you were going to take a bath?"

"You 'did' see! Now, you're going to have to strip so we'll be even."

Mac's mouth dropped open. "Are you kidding? You should inform somebody when you're going to be naked."

"Well, what did you think was happening?"

"How did I know a shark wasn't trying to pull you out to sea?"

Jo had to admit he was right. "Okay, I admit that but you didn't tell me that you saw me."

"Okay." Mac looked at her seriously. "I saw you naked and I wanted to come out there with you and…"

"Okay, that's enough. I don't want to know anymore."

Mac laughed. "You're funny."

"You are too. You're just hilarious."

"Oh yeah?" Mac stood up and went over to the fire. "What does this sound like?" He took his shirt off. "Look what I have created! I have created fire!"

Jo laughed. "I loved that movie," she said. She stared at Mac. "I can't believe we're in this situation."

"At least we're not alone and talking to inanimate objects."

Jo leaned back on the wall. "What would you talk to in this cave if you didn't have me?" she asked.

Mac sat back down and started to work on the coconut again. He looked around the cave. "I don't know. Maybe I would talk to one of these coconuts. They kinda look like they have a face."

Mac set one of the coconuts up on a rock with the largest eye on the bottom. He and Jo stared at it a moment and then looked at each other. "It could work," the both said.

"Wilson!" Mac yelled and they both laughed.

"Aw, you would have to call it Coco," Jo remarked.

"Oh yeah, or I might just call it nutty."

"Oh, I've got it…it would be your nutty buddy."

Mac laughed at that. He looked at the coconut. "You're in trouble, nutty buddy," he said trying to mock Jo's Southern accent. "I'm gonna split you in half and use you for a cup."

"You wouldn't do that if you were here alone."

"I'm not though." Mac pulled the last husk off the coconut he was working on. Then he hit it with the rock and made another cup. He looked at the coconut inside the shell. "We will have to eat that first."

"I've always loved coconut. You know when I was little, my sisters didn't like the coconut popsicles and they would always give them to me. I was a baby and Mama said they couldn't get anymore until all those were gone so they would make me eat them while they ate the grape and orange and cherry."

Mac smiled. "I was the oldest so nobody ran over me," he said.

"Were you mean to your little brother?"

"No."

Jo stared at him a moment. "Are you serious?"

Mac smiled. "Okay, I guess I was a little. We drove Mother crazy running through the house chasing each other with toy guns and then we would fight and tear up the beds."

"Oh my word. Boys."

"Haha. My sister was always trying to cook. Don't blame it all on me."

Mac cut some coconut from the coconut shell and tasted it. "Pretty good," he said.

Jo ate a piece. "I would have never dreamed that I would be out here eating coconut like this."

"Me neither."

"Mac, how long do you think we'll be here?" Jo asked seriously.

Mac looked out the entrance of the cave. "I don't know, Jo," he replied. "I don't know."

When they were done eating the coconut and the seafood, Mac got one of the mangos and cut it open. "I don't think you can eat this peeling," he said.

"Peel it," Jo said.

Mac looked at the fruit. "I have never been good at peeling fruit," he said. "Except oranges."

"Oh, give it here." Jo took the mango and the knife and peeled it and took the seeds out. "Since I peeled this, I get the first bite." She bit into the juicy, sweet fruit. "Oh, my goodness. That is the best tasting mango I have ever eaten."

Mac tasted it. "Mmmm, sure is and I don't even like mangos."

"I've always liked them."

Mac ate his last bite. "I think I've had all I want," he said. He looked at the knife. "I need to go and wash this. You okay to stay here while I go do it?"

"I'll just go with you."

They climbed down from the cave and went toward the stream. "You forgot your shirt," Jo said.

"So did you." Mac looked up at the sky. "It's hot out here."

"We had humidity about like this down in Alabama and Mississippi. I guess I'm used to it."

They finally came to the stream and Mac washed the knife and dried it on his tank top. "I guess I'll have to start using this for a towel," he said.

"I wish there was a big waterfall to take a shower in," Jo said.

"We haven't seen the whole island yet," Mac said. "You never know what's over that way or that way. We're kinda right in the middle. There could be anything out there."

"When are we going to see?"

"I guess we could go tomorrow." Mac looked at Jo with a grin. "I don't have anything else to do."

Jo smiled. "Neither do I."

Jo walked over to Mac and put her arms around his neck. "Kiss me," she said.

Mac put the knife in the sheath and put his arms around Jo. He kissed her gently and then they looked at each other and then they shared a long kiss. Jo untied her bikini strap from around her neck and let it fall. Mac thought his heart skipped a beat. Jo took his hand and put it on her. "Don't be afraid to touch me, Mac," she said.

"I'm not afraid," Mac said. "I'm…" He looked into Jo's eyes and he could see her sincerity. He put his arms around her and kissed her passionately as he pulled her close to him in a tight embrace.

Mac suddenly stopped the kiss. "Jo, we can't do this here," he said.

"Why not?" Jo asked as she was kissing his neck.

"You haven't forgotten those spiders, have you?"

Jo almost jumped as she looked down. She looked at Mac and wondered if he was just making another excuse. "You have a point," she said. She looked up at the sky. "It's not dark yet. Why don't we go and make love on the beach?"

Mac knew he wanted to…and she wanted to. He took her hand in his and they headed for the beach…


	12. Chapter 12

Mac and Jo arrived at the beach and Jo walked over to some rocks. "I'm going to sunbathe," she said.

Mac sat down on some rocks and stared out across the ocean. "Aren't you coming?" Jo asked.

"No," Mac said. "I'm going to find something else to do."

"Are we going to start going nude?"

Mac scowled. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Mac, we are stranded on a tropical island. Nobody knows we're here. Who knows whether we are the first people to ever set foot on this island? Who's going to know if we walk around nude? What are clothes for? I walk around nude in my bedroom and when Ellie's not there, I walk around nude in the apartment if I want to."

Mac looked at her. "Jo, I have a certain border of decency that I like to stay within."

"You mean you never walk around nude in your apartment? What world are you living in? You never walked around nude in front of your wife?"

"Jo."

"I'm just asking. I sure walked around nude in front of Russ and well…"

"Well, yes, I did but we're not in an apartment now. We're out here…and we're not married either."

"On a deserted island…alone."

"Okay, I get your point but that doesn't mean I'm going to walk around nude."

"Will it bother you if I do?"

Mac almost laughed. "Yes, it will."

Jo smiled. "So, something does bother you."

"Jo, I'm not dead. I'm just…I don't want to go into that."

Mac turned around and sat back down on the rock. He thought about the fun they had had together and how he felt when they kissed. He knew he loved Jo and he knew that he never wanted to be apart from her again. He loved the feeling of her skin touching his. He rubbed his face. "Jo, can I ask you a very personal question?" he asked.

"Sure."

"What do you think about waiting until you're married?"

Jo came out of the rocks and sat down beside him. Mac looked at her. "You think I'm being stupid, don't you?" he asked.

"No, but I do wonder what you're thinking," Jo said. "If that's what you want, it's alright with me."

"I don't know. I just want something different than just a quest for sex."

"So you don't want to make love to me?"

"That's not what I'm saying," Mac stood up and walked away from her. "If I feel like you're trying to seduce me or something, it just kills the mood for me." Mac looked at her. "Do you understand what I'm saying? And besides, I don't want to do this when we're just getting started good anyway."

"Yes, I understand you," Jo said. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I thought you wanted to."

"I do but people should not always do everything they 'feel' like doing."

Mac walked away down the beach. "Mac!" Jo called after him but he kept walking. She put her sandals on and grabbed her jeans and went after him. "Mac!"

Mac did not stop. He just kept walking. He did not want to talk about the subject again. Jo finally caught up with him. "Mac Taylor! Will you stop and talk to me!"

"I don't know what else to say."

"You could at least stop walking in a sprint."

Mac stopped and looked at her. "I think I'm going for a run. I think better when I'm running. I need to."

Jo looked at him and then looked around them. "You know, this is the first time I have ever been in a place where I didn't have to look over my shoulder or worry about anything when I'm alone."

Mac looked at her a moment. "Yeah. It's kinda peaceful, isn't it?"

Jo nodded. "How long are you going to be gone?"

"Not long."

"Okay. I'll wait here for you and I'll see if I can find something for our next meal."

Mac caressed her cheek. "I'll be back."

Jo watched Mac run away. She sighed. She thought he must be affected by that situation with Melinda than she had realized. He had talked about it a little but she thought he must have had real issues about that. She went over to the rocks where she had been that morning and looked around for some muscles. There were quite a few there. She looked out across the ocean and thought she could see a boat way out across the water. She stood up and stared at it but it did not get any closer. Jo wondered if any boats ever came this way. They had not seen anything so far.

As Mac was running, he was thinking about Jo. He could remember all the times they had spent together and how they became friends. He had liked her when they first met when they were standing over a dead body. She had just taken her place in the team and had conformed to their way of doing things easily. He thought Jo could probably get along with anyone. He thought about what he loved about her. He loved the way she was always concerned about his well-being. And he liked the way she teased him about things pretending that it did not embarrass her to say it. He liked her assertiveness in situation and she would not back down. He thought there was some apprehension in her about their relationship. He wondered if Jo was ready for this even though she acted like she was. He remembered how she had talked about Russ being gone. Mac thought she had really been in love with him and just refused to admit it because she did not want to admit she was wrong…and he knew that Russ loved her. Mac could tell that by the way he looked at her. However, he was dead now and Jo was trying to move on.

Mac wondered if she just wanted to test the waters with him. Did she really want a relationship right now? She was always telling him that she would give him time and that she was not trying to force him but every time they got close to each other, she tried to take it further. He supposed she wanted an intimate relationship. It had been a long time for both of them. Mac frowned with that thought. He had wanted to break that cycle with Jo, but Melinda had stolen that from him. Now, she was out there somewhere probably laughing at the fact that she had thrown them off that cruise ship and had gotten away with it. She had no idea that they had survived. Mac wondered what she would do when she found out that they were still alive. If he ever got off this island, he would let her know that she was not going to get away with this. What if they did not get off? What if they had to live the rest of their lives here? He stopped with that thought. What was he doing? He turned around and started running back the other way.

Jo was sitting on the rocks. What was Mac so worried about? She could not imagine what he was worried about. She supposed she had just pushed him too hard. She had been trying to seduce him. She had to admit it but she was also trying to see what he would do.

"Jo!"

Jo looked to see Mac running back that way. She stood up and looked at him. She wondered what was going on. He ran over to her. "Mac, what's wrong?" she asked.

Mac looked at her as he put his arms around her. "Nothing," he said. He kissed her. "I love you, Jo."

Jo looked into Mac's eyes. She did not know what to say but she was surprised by his actions and that intense look in his eyes was enough to take her breath away. "I love you too, Mac."

Mac hugged her to him. Jo loved the feeling of his arms around her. She looked at him as his embrace loosened. "Don't give up on me, Jo," he said.

"I won't," Jo replied. "I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable."

Mac shook his head. "There's no need to apologize," he said and kissed her hand. Then he kissed her lips again. "Let's go back to our cave."

Jo looked toward the rocks. "My jeans are over there and I gathered some mussels."

Mac nodded. They gathered up everything and then headed back to the cave. By the time they got there, it was starting to get dark again. "I wonder what winter is like here," Jo remarked.

"Probably like it is in Hawaii," Mac replied.

They climbed up into the cave and put the muscles beside the fire. "I think I'm going to get tired of these one of these days," Jo said.

Mac smiled. "I think I will too but we'll have to switch for each meal and not eat the same old things every time."

Jo put her jeans over with her shirt. She did not want to wear them right now. It was hot and humid and she did not want to feel like she was wet in her clothes. She looked at Mac who was just wearing his white pants. "Aren't those pants hot?" she asked.

"Not really," Mac replied. He looked at Jo. "But I might go without them tomorrow."

"Oh really?"

Mac nodded. "I might just use my underwear as a bathing suit."

"Might as well."

Mac sat down beside Jo and held her hand. He looked into her eyes. Jo swallowed hard as she thought she was starting to feel a little shy now. He had never looked at her this way. She ran her fingers through her hair. Mac took her hands in his. "Stop worrying about your appearance," he said.

"I can't help it," Jo said. "Women worry about things like that. I know I must look a sight. My hair hasn't been combed since we've been here and I have no makeup."

"You don't need it," Mac said. "I'm in love with who you are, not what you look like."

"But you want me to look pretty, don't you?" Jo asked.

Mac put his arm around her. "You're beautiful. If I judged you like that, it would not be love, would it?"

"I don't know if I even know what real love is, Mac."

Mac touched her face. "I do." He kissed her. "It's more than a feeling."

"I know I feel love for you now."

"And we're going to let it grow for a long time."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Mac woke up in the middle of the night. He realized it was still raining. He always woke up in the middle of the night. He supposed it was because he was used to getting a call about a dead body in the middle of the night. He looked at Jo who was snuggled up beside him. He turned toward her and touched her face with one finger. She did not move so he ran his finger up her arm. She flinched with that. Mac smiled and then ran his finger down her neck. Jo slapped at his hand then but then she opened her eyes and realized it was Mac.

Mac smiled. "Did I wake you?" he asked.

"Isn't that what you were trying to do?" Jo asked.

"I'm just tired of lying here with no one to talk to."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. I get to feeling helpless."

"Mac, we'll make it. We just have to help each other until we do."

When Mac woke up the next time, he jerked out of his sleep as though he had been awakened by something. He looked around them but he did not see anything. Jo was still sleeping. He thought it must have thundered loudly or something. He sat up still feeling sleepy but he got over to the fire and put some more wood on it. He would have to get more wood tomorrow. He looked at his rope that he had not even finished. He got over to it and started braiding again. The rope would be handy if they had to climb up something high. He wanted to explore the other sides of the island. He wanted to know if there was a better place that they could stay over there than what they had here. He was glad they had a place to stay though because they did not have to worry so much about getting a sun burn. He did worry about going through the jungle though. He wondered what kinds of plants could be out there that could make them sick. However, he knew they could drink and use coconut milk for a lot of things. He thought about that crate that had washed ashore. He wanted to see if they could find something else out there.

Mac finally finished the rope and tied the end. He made sure it was tied tightly on both ends and then wound it up. It was a good rope. Tomorrow, they would start their journey to the left side of the island since they already knew what was on the other two sides. The next day, they would go to the other side.

Mac looked at Jo who was still sleeping. He could hardly sleep on that rocky floor. He thought he would rather sleep on the sand. At least it gave a little and was not so hard. He watched the easy rise and fall of Jo's chest under the blanket which he could only see by the firelight which highlighted her face. He crawled back over to the bed and got under the blanket with her. Jo took a deep breath and turned over on her back. Mac did not want to disturb her. It was hard to sleep anyway on this hard floor.

The next morning, Jo woke up first. She thought she smelled something burning and she realized they had left the muscles by the fire all night. She got into her shirt and got over to the fire. "Oh my," she said as she saw the blackened muscles. "What a waste." She threw them out the back entrance of the cave and then went back to the fire. She noticed that Mac had finished the rope and it was lying coiled together. She wondered what he was planning for today. She looked at him as he was still sleeping. She loved him so much she wished they could be married but that obviously could not happen here on a deserted island. She was sure Mac would want to be married too.

Jo felt of her hair. She thought it must look horrible. She noticed some pieces of the vine fibers that were on the floor of the cave. She smoothed her hair out as best she could and got it into a pony tail and tied a piece of the fibers around it. Then she twisted her hair around into a ball and tucked it in as best she could. She thought that would be better than it flying in every direction. She would try the coconut milk to make it soft too and maybe that would help keep it from getting so tangled. She also thought about her teeth. She thought it would be the worst thing in the world to get a cavity and a toothache on this island. She had read something about how to take care of one's teeth on the internet before.

As the sun came up, it got more humid in the cave. Jo was glad her hair was up. It was much cooler that way. Mac finally started to stir and stretched. He opened his eyes and looked at the top of the cave. "Good morning," Jo said.

Mac looked to see her sitting across the cave. "Morning," he said.

"Sleep well?"

Mac smiled. "Yeah, when I was asleep."

Jo smiled. "I saw that you finished the rope."

Mac nodded and looked at her hair. "You put your hair up."

"I don't want it to be crazy."

"We can go and bathe in the salt water again today but I want to travel to the left side of the island today and see what we can find."

"Okay, so are we going now?"

Mac sat up. "I'm hungry," he said. "We never got around to eating last night."

"So, are you getting up?"

"I'm thinking about it."

Jo smiled. "You're lazy."

"I'm on vacation."

Mac got up and Jo peeled a mango to eat. "We better rinse with ocean water this morning," she said.

Mac nodded. "That will help cut down on cavities," he said. "I'll make us a toothbrush from some bamboo or something."

Jo smiled. "My grandpa used to make toothbrushes from Sweet Gum trees. He would be chewing on one of those when we came to visit and he would make us one."

"Mine too, but he usually used hickory."

"Do you really thing you can make one from bamboo?"

"I can try. If it's frayed at the end, it will work. I don't know much about these other trees around here except the palm tree but I don't think you can use that. We could use a mangrove for a lot of stuff if we find any of those…plus, they have their roots out in the water and they attract fish so we might find something to eat."

"We better take the backpack," Jo said with a mouth full of mango.

When they were done eating, they climbed down from the cave. Mac had the backpack and the rope he had made. "I'm really impressed by your expertise at surviving," Jo said. "This rope looks pretty sturdy."

"It is," Mac replied.

They turned to the left as they left the clearing where the cave was. This way was much more rocky and had more hills. They climbed and made their way around through the rocks and the undergrowth which was very thick. "Bamboo," Mac said as he looked up at a thick bamboo thicket.

"How are we going to get through that?" Jo asked.

Mac looked both ways and listened. "You hear that?" he asked.

Jo listened. She looked at Mac. "Water?"

Mac nodded. "Where there's bamboo like this, there's bound to be water."

"But how do we get over there?"

"Come on, there must be a way around this."

They walked a long way before they finally found a way around the bamboo. There was other growth however and it was not easy to get through but they finally made it and found a rocky outcropping. "I definitely hear water," Mac said.

"Me too," Jo replied.

They made their way around the rock wall and came to a large pool of water with a waterfall. Jo gasped. "Oh, Mac, this is beautiful," she said.

Mac had to agree with that. He looked up at where the water fall was coming from which was right over the edge of the rocky hill. It extended back into the woods and Mac figured it probably went all the way to the side of the island.

Jo walked out into the water. She gasped. "Oh, that is cold!" She looked at Mac.

"It's coming down from that hill up there," Mac said. "It's probably shaded all the time."

Jo walked until the water was too deep. "Come on, Mac."

Mac looked around him hoping there was nothing out here that was dangerous. However, the water was so clear, he could see almost to the bottom and he did not see anything in the water except he thought he saw some fish in there and a crab or two. Mac set the backpack down and pulled off his shirt and pants and left them lying with the backpack. Just as he was about to step into the water, he almost stepped on a large frog which let him know its displeasure with a loud croak. Mac was surprised. "How did that frog get here?" he wondered.

"Oh, Mac, there are mysteries all over the world," Jo said as she was about to reach the waterfall.

Mac got into the water and realized how cold it was. "Wow, this really is cold." He drank some of the water and it was soothing going down. He swam over to the waterfall, where there was a rocky shelf that Jo was standing on as though she were in a shower. "Oh, this feels good even if it is cold," she said as the water cascaded over her.

Mac stepped up behind her. "Maybe I need a cold shower," he remarked.

Jo turned in his arms and looked up at him. "I don't think a cold shower can even cool you down."

Mac smiled. "You might be right but…" Mac shivered. "This one can." He jumped back into the water.

Jo laughed and turned back to the shower. "You like skinny dipping?" she asked.

"Doesn't everybody?"

"I don't know. I've never asked everybody."

Jo looked around at Mac who was just floating on the water. "Oh, if I only had a camera," she said.

Mac looked at her. "Don't even start that. I'm glad you don't."

"That would be quite a picture."

Just then, they heard a bird call. Mac looked up into the canopy of trees and so did Jo. "I wonder what kind of bird that was," Jo said.

They listened a moment and heard the call again. "Some sort of water bird," Mac said. "They must live on that side of the island. That means there could be a mangrove forest over there."

"And that means fish," Jo said.

"Yes."

Jo swam out to Mac who was lying with his hands behind his head as though he were lying on a bed. "How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" Mac asked.

"Float like that. You look like you're just lying on the water."

"It's relaxing. Better than laying on that hard rock floor."

"Is it?"

"Yeah."

"There's no place here to sleep."

Mac looked around them. "I wonder if there's a cave behind that waterfall," he said.

"No. I checked. It's a rock wall behind it."

"I wish we could find one here somewhere. They're good shelters."

"Yeah especially when those storms come."

Mac looked up the rocky hill. "Maybe we should inspect that, "he said. He looked at Jo. "Maybe I should. If one of us gets hurt, at least the other one will still be well."

"Oh, Mac, don't say things like that."

"Jo, we have to face facts."

"I know but I don't want to think of you being hurt on this island with no help."

"Let's get moving."

Jo whistled at Mac as he walked out of the water in his underwear. He looked at her with a grin as he started to get into his clothes. "What would you say if I whistled at you like that?" he asked.

Jo smiled. "Go ahead," she said.

Mac looked her up and down and then whistled at her. "Mmmm, mmm, fine looking piece of woman flesh."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "Why you!"

Mac laughed as Jo came out of the water. He got his pants on before she got to him. "Now, hold it!" he said.

Jo gave him a fake glare. "You just remember that we're on this island alone and may never see anyone again so I could hurt you!"

Mac laughed. "Shut up," he said trying to sound serious.

Jo put her clothes back on and they started on through the woods when they got around the water in a shallow spot. They found more bamboo on the other side of the tree. Jo looked up at the beautiful tree close to the bamboo. "Oh, Mac, just look at that," she said as she was admiring the yellow flowers.

Mac looked at the tree. "That's a flamboyant tree," he said.

"Aren't those supposed to be rare?"

"Yeah, but I guess one got on this island somehow."

"Do you know that coconuts can float for miles and miles and land on an island and then germinate and form a tree?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, I've heard that."

"I guess that's how they get on all these deserted islands."

"I guess but how does everything else get here?"

"Maybe those seeds hitched a ride with the coconut."

Mac shook his head. "You never know. I do know one thing though."

"What?"

"If we find a Mangrove forest, we can use the ashes for soap."

Jo looked at Mac. "Are you kidding?"

"No. You can use them for soap and you can clean your teeth with them. It's funny how you can remember all this stuff when you have time to think of it."

"It is."

"How did you learn all this?"

"I've always been a bookworm."

"Well, that sounds like you."

"What? Do you think I'm stuffy?"

"Not now."

Mac looked at her. "You mean you thought I was stuffy before?"

"Sorta. I wondered if you would be the kind of man who would want a woman like me. I mean, you worked all the time and never did anything else."

"But I learned better, and I have you to thank for that."

Jo hugged his arm. "You're welcome."

They soon came to another small clearing. Jo gasped and pointed. "Mac, look at that!"

Mac looked up at what Jo was pointing at. "Star fruits," he said.

"Oh, I want some of those!"

Mac laid the backpack down and got his rope. "Let's hope this works," he said.

Jo watched as Mac attempted to throw the rope over the lowest limb on the tree. The tree was not all that tall but the fruit was too high to reach without climbing. After a few tries, Mac finally got the rope over the limb. He made a slip knot to hold it to the limb and then began his climb up the tree. The star fruits were growing in big bunches so he cut a bunch down. "I guess we can eat off that for a while," he said.

"I'll say," Jo agreed.

Mac got the slip knot loose from the tree and then made his way back down. Jo was already eating one of the star fruits. "Oh, these are so good," she said.

Mac smiled. "You're welcome, Madam."

Jo smiled. "Have one."

Mac took one of the fruits and then picked up the bunch which was quite heavy. "You better take the backpack," he said. "I can't carry that and this too."

"Okay."


	14. Chapter 14

Don Flack was sitting at his desk reading a story in the newspaper when his desk phone rang. "Flack," he said as he kept on looking at the article.

"Don Flack?"

"Yes. Who's this?"

"This is Ellie Danville, Jo Danville's daughter."

"Oh. Hi. What can I do for you? You're not in trouble are you?"

"No. It's just that Mom said she would call me when they got to Hawaii but she hasn't called and they called got there yesterday."

Don considered that. "Well, she might be busy. I'm sure she'll call you soon."

"But Mom always calls."

Don could tell by Ellie's voice that she was really upset. "I'll see if I can get in touch with her."

"Has she contacted anyone there?"

"No, she hasn't. I'm sure she would contact you before she would us." Don looked at his watch. "I'll let you know if I find out anything. Let me have your number."

Ellie told him the number. "Don't worry now," Don said.

"Thanks."

Don hung up the phone. He smiled. He figured Mac and Jo were busy with each other and just forgot to contact anyone. He scowled at that thought. He knew how important Jo's kids were to her and he knew Mac would never interfere with that. He got his phone and called up to the lab.

Danny was sitting at his desk writing a report when his phone rang. "Messer," he answered.

"Danny, have you guys heard from Mac or Jo?" Don asked.

"Not a word. Why would they want to call us?"

"Well, I was just asking cause I just got a call from Ellie and she hasn't heard from Jo and she said Jo promised to call her when she got to Hawaii."

Danny laid his pen down. "Maybe they just forgot," he said.

"You think so?"

Danny had to admit that was highly unlikely. He and Lindsey would never forget to call Lucy no matter what they were doing. "No," he said. "Mac told me what hotel they would be in." Danny shuffled through papers on his desk. "They were going to stay at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa on Hawaii. I don't have the number."

"You really think I should call over there and remind them that they didn't call Ellie?" Don asked.

"Don't ask me. You started this."

"No I didn't. Ellie did."

"Well, it is Jo's daughter. What's the harm? All Mac can do is chew you out and tell you not to call them again."

Don snickered. "You really think he would?"

"Nah."

"Well, I'll try it."

Don hung up the phone and then found out the number for the hotel. He stared at it a moment before he dialed it. He supposed it would not hurt to try. The phone started to ring and Don thought about hanging up but he decided to go through with it.

"Sheraton, this is Amy speaking," someone answered.

"Amy, this is Detective Don Flack in New York. I need to speak to Mac Taylor or Jo Danville. They were supposed to check in yesterday there."

Don waited while Amy looked up the information in her computer. "I'm sorry, Sir, they never checked in," Amy said.

"I'm sorry?"

"They never checked in."

Don absorbed that for a moment. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Amy looked in her computer again. "Yes, they didn't check in so their room was given to someone else. They were supposed to arrive yesterday with the cruise ship and they never checked in."

Don was silent for a moment. "Okay, do you have any idea how I can get in touch with the captain of that ship?" he asked. He waited while Amy was looking up that information.

Amy gave Don the information. "Thank you, Ma'am," Don said. "If they happen to show up later, will you tell them to call me…Detective Don Flack?"

"Yes, sir. I'll make a note of that here."

"Thank you."

Don hung up the phone. He was starting to get a little worried now. Why would they not check into their hotel? Why would they not call if they had decided to change hotels? How could they change hotels on the spur of the moment like that? Why would they not inform the hotel? He got the phone and called the number that the hotel clerk had given him. When he finally got to the captain of the ship, he was almost disgusted.

"Captain Reynolds," he answered.

"Captain, this is Detective Don Flack in New York. How ya doing?"

"Doing fine. What can I do for you?"

"You had two passengers on your ship who were supposed to arrive in Hawaii yesterday and they never checked into their hotel," Don said. "Do you know if they're still on the ship?"

"There are some still on the ship but if they had a hotel rented, they should have left the ship."

"Can you find out for me if they are on the ship and call me back? I need to know. Their names are Mac Taylor and Jo Danville."

The captain wrote those names down. "I'll get back to you," he said.

Don hung up the phone. He shifted in his chair. No one knew where Mac and Jo were…they did not check into their hotel…the captain did not even know whether they were on the ship or not. He called up to the lab again…

Danny answered the phone. "Messer," he said.

"Danny, nobody over there knows where Mac and Jo are," Don said.

Danny was silent a moment. "What?"

"Nobody knows where they are. They didn't check into their hotel and they didn't inform the hotel that they were getting another hotel."

Danny thought a moment. "Are you saying they're lost?" he asked.

Don rubbed his forehead. "I don't know what I'm saying," he said. "Either Mac and Jo got carried away and just disappeared or they forgot to let the hotel know that they got there. I'm waiting for the captain to tell me whether they are still on the ship or not."

"Well, let us know what you find out."

"Sure."

Don hung up the phone. He was more than a little concerned…but should he be? Mac and Jo could do what they wanted to do, but he had to think about the fact that Melinda Holmes was out of jail and that he was sure she would want revenge if she could get it. But would she go to the trouble of getting on that cruise? How would she know they were on the cruise? He was sure that Mac and Jo had only told the people around them. Mac was not one to spread things around and neither was Jo.

It was two hours before the captain called Don back. "Don Flack," he answered.

"Detective Flack, this is Captain Reynolds. Your friends are not on the ship."

"Don't you keep records of who left the ship?"

"They are not registered on the list as having left the ship but they are not on the ship either."

"What about their cabin?"

"All their things are there."

Don stood up. "Are you serious?"

"I assure you, we will do everything we can to find out what happened to them," Captain Reynolds said.

Don could not believe what he was hearing. "How can they get off that ship without anyone knowing where they are?" he demanded.

"It's a big ship, Detective, but everyone is supposed to be accounted for. Only the ones who were leaving the ship registered here so that left us to believe that everyone else is onboard."

Don rubbed his hair back in frustration. "I want to know the minute you find something out," he said.

"I'll let you know."

Don hung up the phone and headed for the elevator. He was upset now. Mac would never be out of place like this and neither would Jo and she would never forget to call Ellie, nor would she be where Ellie would not know where she was.

Don came out of the elevator at the lab and walked around to Danny's office. Lindsey was there too now. "Hey," Don said. "I just got off the phone with that Captain Reynolds. He says they don't know where Mac and Jo are. They're not on the ship and they are not on the register that they left the ship. They didn't check into their hotel and they have not called Ellie."

Danny and Lindsey stared at Don. "What's going on?" Lindsey asked.

Danny looked at her and realized he had not told her anything about what was going on. "Ellie called and said her mother had not called her," Don said. He explained the situation to Lindsey.

Lindsey's mouth dropped open. She looked at Danny. "Where could they be?" she asked.

"Now, don't start getting upset," Danny said. "We don't know that they're not on the ship. They might not have been in the cabin when the captain checked."

"Danny Messer."

Danny blew out a breath. "Okay, I have to admit it sounds suspicious and I know this is not like Mac and Jo."

"What do we do?" Don asked.

Danny shook his head. "Why don't we call the Hawaii P.D. and ask them to find out what's going on?" he asked.

"Well, it would be better than nothing."


	15. Chapter 15

Don Flack was upset. He wanted to go over there to Hawaii himself and find out what was going on. He would have to talk to the chief about that, however. He was sure he would say no, but he would try anyway. Don came out of the elevator at the chief's office. He straightened his tie and went over to the secretary. "I need to see the chief right away," Don said.

"I'll let him know you're here, Don," the secretary said and smiled at him.

"Thanks."

Don went over to the waiting area and sat down. He was uneasy around that secretary, Dorothy. She was always flirting with him and he did not have an attraction to her. He had to admit she was pretty but he just did not want to get into anything like that at the moment. He waited impatiently for the chief to get time to see him. "Would you like some coffee?" Dorothy asked.

"No thanks," Don replied. "I'll just wait."

"So, what's going on?"

Don looked at Dorothy who was leaning on her desk as though he had her full attention. "It's between me and the chief," Don said. "It's not office gossip."

Dorothy looked incredulous. "Are you saying that I gossip?"

"Everybody gossips."

Finally, the chief was ready to see Don. Don walked into the office where Chief Sinclair was sitting behind his desk. "Flack, what brings you up here?" he asked.

Don was not sure how to explain his reason for coming up there. "You know that Mac and Jo went on a vacation," he began.

Sinclair nodded. "Yes, they went on a cruise to Hawaii." He looked at Don. "Why?"

"They're missing."

Sinclair sat up from leaning back on his chair. "What do you mean, missing?"

"Nobody knows where they are, Chief. They're not on the ship, but all their things are in the cabin. They're not registered to have left the ship and they did not check into their hotel. They did not inform the hotel that they would not be coming and they did not inform them that they had another hotel."

Sinclair scowled as he thought about that. "So, what do they think happened to them?" he asked.

"They don't know."

Sinclair stared at Don. "And you want to go over there and see if you can find out what's going on," he said.

"Chief, you know that Melinda Holmes is out of prison," Don said.

Sinclair leaned on his desk. "You think she got on that ship and did something to Mac and Jo?" he asked.

Don sighed. "I don't know," he said. "I know it's not like them to be out of touch and I know Jo would call her daughter."

Sinclair knew how close Jo was to her daughter. He had to agree with that. He looked at Don. "You also know that the Pacific Ocean is a very big place."

Don frowned. "Yes I do."

"If they're not on that ship and not at that hotel, there's only one place they could be."

Don swallowed hard. "Chief, I have to try and find out," he said.

Sinclair shook his head. He understood Don's anguish. He hated the thought that Mac and Jo might have been thrown off the ship. "You know that the odds are not favorable that they survived if they were thrown out," he said.

Don almost felt helpless. "If there's any kind of chance, Mac could make it," he said. "He's a strong swimmer."

"But is he that strong?"

"I want to find out if Melinda Holmes was on that ship," Don declared.

"You think she would use her real name?" Sinclair asked.

"I have to go over there, Chief. I can show her picture to the captain and the others and see if they saw her."

Sinclair nodded. He picked up his pen and took out a form. "I'll give you some leave, Don," he said. "But don't go over there and get into trouble." He pointed his finger at Don. "Those ship captains don't like anyone stepping on their territory."

"What about Danny? Can't he go with me?"

Sinclair shook his head. "Someone has to take care of that lab," he said. "You're on your own. I don't want anyone else over there getting into trouble."

"I don't intend to get into trouble." Don got his phone and texted Danny and told him what he was about to do.

Danny could not believe it. He hoped Mac and Jo were not out there in the ocean somewhere. He had to admit that there was not any other explanation. If they had been thrown off the ship, could they survive even the fall? Would the person who threw them out let them be able to survive?

Danny went into the lab where Lindsey was. "They think Mac and Jo might have been thrown off the ship," he said.

Lindsey's mouth dropped open with a gasp. "What?" she asked.

"That's what Don just said. He's about to go over to Hawaii to see what he can find out."

Lindsey was shocked. She looked at Danny. "Do they think it was Melinda Holmes?" she asked.

"That's probably what Don thinks. I wouldn't doubt it."

"Who's going with him?"

"Well, he didn't ask me."

Lindsey looked at Danny. "This is hard to believe," she said.

"You can say that again," Danny replied.

"Do you think they could survive?"

"If anybody could, Mac could."

"You think they're stranded out there on an island somewhere?"

Danny shook his head. "I don't know. If they survived, they must be somewhere like that."

"Danny, do you know how many deserted islands there are out there?"

"No. Do you?"

"Hundreds."

Danny and Lindsey were silent for a moment. They could not imagine Mac and Jo out there anywhere and they certainly could not imagine anyone being able to find them. "Are they going to be lost forever?" Lindsey asked.

"No," Danny said. "They can't."

Don Flack got his leave in place and went to his apartment. He packed his Hawaiian shirts because he wanted to look like a vacationer while he was over there. He had already called and got a flight to Hawaii. Of course, he had to get across this country first. It would take at least until tomorrow to get there. He just hoped Mac and Jo were safe somewhere.

When Don had everything packed, he got a cab to the airport. He was anxious about the whole situation. Would they ever find Mac and Jo? He shook his head with that thought. They had to find them. He could not stand the thought of his friends being lost out there somewhere in the ocean with no hope or on an island somewhere. What if they had been eaten with sharks? Don had even heard of an area in the ocean where there were whirlpools that captured debris and everything and it all stayed right there. What if Mac and Jo got stuck in that?

Don blew out a breath. He was getting carried away. He wanted to figure out where Mac and Jo had been thrown out of that ship and which way they might have been carried by currents or whatever. If he knew Mac at all, he knew he would try to survive and he would do his best to keep Jo alive.

Don arrived at the airport and went through the security. He sighed with relief after he got through that. It was a harrowing experience to say the least. He checked his luggage and went to the right gate. He looked out the window at the plane. He paced back and forth. He did not think he could just sit down and wait. He was too nervous. This was a serious situation. He leaned on the wall and watched the people walking by. His attention suddenly settled on one person in particular that he saw walking by. He walked to the entrance of the gate waiting room and watched as Melinda Holmes and two men were walking toward the exit and they had luggage with them.

Don grabbed his phone and called Danny. "Messer," Danny answered.

"Danny, I just saw Melinda Holmes walk by here on her way out of this airport," Don said.

Danny stood up. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely positive. She and two of her men walking together and they had luggage with them."

Danny's mind was racing now. "Can you find out where she's been?" he asked.

Don looked at his watch. "My flight leaves in fifteen minutes." Just as he said that, he heard the boarding announcement. "I got to get on the plane."

"Lindsey and I will find out," Danny said. "What gate are you at?"

"Thirty-three. She was coming from further up."

"We'll find it," Danny said as he wrote that down.

Don got in line to board the plane. "We have to figure this out," he said. "I know something is wrong."

"We'll figure it out, Don, but I don't know if I'm going to like the outcome."

"Me neither but we have to try."

Don put his phone away. He felt despair now. What could have happened to Mac and Jo? What if they had been killed and thrown off the ship? He thought Melinda was too cautious to have blood on the ship in her wake. He wondered if she had come in with a different name. Even if she did, he was sure that someone would recognize that woman. She walked with a flare and she liked getting attention. She had used Mac just to prove that she could do it. Don wished he could put that woman behind bars and throw away the key. People like that did not deserve to be walking around free and going on vacations. They were the ones who made life hard for people like him and other innocent people who were simply trying to make a life for themselves and their families. If she threw Mac and Jo out of that ship, her days were numbered. They would prove that she did it…he did not care how long it took.


	16. Chapter 16

1

**Chapter 16**

Mac and Jo reached the other side of the island and found that there was indeed a Mangrove forest there at the water. Not only that, but there were birds there as well and they were making a lot of noise. It was a flock of Cormorants. "Oh my goodness," Jo said as she heard the disturbing sounds of their calls. "They sound like a bunch of walruses."

"Those are Cormorants," Mac said. "I don't think they'll bother us as long as they don't think we're bothering their nest."

"Where are their nests?"

Mac looked at Jo. "I don't know but maybe they're not in the water or anything."

Jo looked down the beach and even saw a wading bird standing in the edge of the water. It had its head up staring at them with one eye. "You think we're the first people they ever saw?" Jo asked.

"No," Mac replied. "They might have gotten lost in a storm or something and finally found this island."

They walked over to the mangrove forest. The mangroves stood up above their roots, which looked like fingers or snakes going out toward the water. "Fish like to get in these for protection," Mac said. "That's why these birds are here." Mac picked up some fallen wood and put it into the backpack to use for firewood. Then he looked around the roots of the trees. He could definitely see fish down in there. He looked at Jo. "There's fish down there."

"How do we get them?" Jo asked.

Mac was trying to figure that out. He looked up at the mangrove trees which were giving a good shade. The cormorants were making a deep pitched sound at them. "Maybe I could make a spear with one of these limbs," Mac said. He looked toward the jungle. "Or maybe I could make one out of bamboo."

Jo looked toward the jungle and could see some bamboo in the edge. "You think you can?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "Well, there's only one way to find out." He walked over to the edge of the jungle and managed to cut a bamboo pole from the bunch.

Jo walked over to him. "Well, bamboo is definitely tough enough," she said.

Mac nodded. He sat down on a rock in the shade and began to whittle the end of the pole. Jo sat down beside him and watched. He whittled off one side of the bamboo pole since it was hollow and then sharpened the side that was left, leaving it as wide as possible. He looked at his work and then looked at Jo. "Well, I guess there's only one way to test it," he said.

Jo looked toward the mangrove forest. "You think you can spear a fish like that?" she asked.

"I don't know. I never tried before."

They went over to the forest again. Mac climbed out onto the roots which were quite strong. He could see the fish below the roots. They were just silver fish sitting there in the water. He thought they looked like Mackerel. He leaned down on the roots and eased the spear into the water so that he would not disturb the fish but as soon as his shadow touched them, they all darted out of the roots. Mac's mouth dropped open at what just happened. It was like they were all connected. He looked at Jo. "Well, so much for that idea," he said.

"What happened?" Jo asked.

"They saw me."

Jo tried not to smile. She wanted to laugh at the sight of Mac out there lying on those tree roots trying to spear a fish. "You're very noticeable. Why don't you take off that white shirt?"

Mac took the shirt off and threw it to Jo. Then he lay back down on the tree roots. He was mostly shaded by the trees but somehow those fish had seen him. He became very still and got his spear into position as he waited. He knew they would come back after they thought the danger was over. Jo sat down in the mangrove forest to wait and see what Mac would do.

Mac waited and finally, he saw one of the fish coming back followed by several others. He already had the spear in the water. He waited for one of the fish to get close to it and he speared the fish which brought a big panic to the other fish and this seemed to agitate the cormorants. Jo looked up at the birds hoping that they would not fly down on Mac.

Mac pulled the fish from the water. It was still flopping around even though it was on the end of the spear. He looked at Jo. "How about Mackerel for lunch?" he asked.

"Sounds good right now," Jo replied. "Even though I have never liked mackerel."

Mac made his way off the roots and back over into the forest of Mangroves. Jo looked at the fish he had caught. "It looks like it's big enough for both of us," she said.

Mac nodded. "It's a pretty big one."

Mac put the fish in the backpack and gave it to Jo. He picked up the star fruits and they went on down the beach further to see if they could find anything else that had washed ashore. Jo held Mac's hand as they walked. Mac looked at her and smiled. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Jo looked at him. "I was thinking about Ellie and Tyler."

Mac squeezed her hand. "Don't worry. They'll find out we're missing and they'll try to find us."

Jo wiped a tear off her face. "I don't want to miss everything, Mac."

Mac stopped and looked at her. "Jo, we're going to be rescued."

"You don't know that, Mac. Don't try to make me feel better."

"I want to make you feel better, Jo. I don't want you to feel sad and trapped."

"I can't help that, Mac."

Mac laid the star fruits down and took both of Jo's hands in his. "Jo, I promise you, if nobody finds us soon, we're going to figure out a way to get off this island ourselves."

Jo stared at him in disbelief. "Mac, I would rather be here for the rest of my life than to be lost out there on that ocean," she said.

"I'll find a way, Jo."

Jo watched Mac pick up the star fruits. She had no doubt that he would try. He had surprised her since they had been on this island. He knew how to survive…and he respected her. Mac held out his hand to her. She took his hand and they walked on down the beach. "I think we're going to be well-tanned," Jo said.

"Probably," Mac replied.

They soon came to a place where there was some debris that had washed ashore. Mac picked up a water bottle which, he discovered, had not even been opened. "Hey, look at this," he said.

Jo looked at the bottle. "OH, you're kidding!"

Mac gave her the bottle. "I'll see if I can find another one. We can use these to carry water from the stream down there."

"Good idea."

Mac hunted through the debris and finally found another bottle but it did not have water in it. "I'll use this one," he said.

"You can drink part of this water."

"No, I'll drink the water out there."

"You're really going to drink out of that bottle. You never know who drunk out of it."

Mac scowled. "So? It's been in the ocean no telling how long, and besides, I'll wash it the best I can."

They sorted through more debris and found a large fish bone. Mac picked it up. The backbone was intact and had the other bones sticking out from it. He smiled and looked at Jo. He had a plan for that bone so he put it in the backpack.

"You're keeping a fish bone?" Jo asked.

Mac nodded. "You never know what you can do with one of those."

Jo put her hands on her hips and stared at him a moment. "What are you planning?"

"I'll tell you when we get back to the cave."

"Are we going to make it back there today?"

"I hope so. We might have another storm."

Jo looked toward the flock of cormorants that they could still hear. "I wonder where they go when a storm comes," she said.

Mac shook his head. "I don't know. I guess they just know where to go."

"It's amazing the instincts that animals have."

"Yes it is."

Jo smiled. "It's amazing the instincts that 'you' have."

Mac smiled. "Thanks."

"When are we going to stop for a bath?"

"We'll stop soon. I'll build a fire and cook our lunch out here and then we'll go back after that."

"I guess you'll have to build it the old fashioned way. No torch this time."

"Yeah. I'll have to work at it again."

"I like watching your muscles work."

Mac looked at her with a grin. "Do you?"

"Absolutely."

Mac looked a little shy then. "Did you enjoy our time together?"

"You mean, did I enjoy the sex?"

Mac smiled and looked at her. "Yes, that's what I mean."

"I loved it. It felt good and oooh, it was steamy and…"

"Okay, I get the picture."

Jo smiled at him. "You're so shy, even on a deserted island with no one around us."

"Maybe I am."

Jo hugged his arm. "So when are we going to do it again?"

Mac chuckled. "Tonight, I guess."

"I want to make love on this beach."

"Out here in front of all those birds?"

Jo laughed. "I don't think they'll care."

"How do you know? They might get mad at us."

"Why? Are we going to make a lot of noise?"

Mac bit his bottom lip and shook his head. "You're quite a woman," he said.

"And you're quite a man. I love that little habit you have."

Mac looked at her. "What habit?"

"When you're feeling embarrassed or teased, you bite your bottom lip."

Mac thought about that a moment. "Do I?"

"Yes, you do."

"Is that why you want to tease me all the time?"

"Maybe."

They soon came to an area with a few palm trees scattered on the beach that created a little shade. "We'll stop here," Mac said. "It looks like a good place."

"It will be good to get out of this sun," Jo replied. "I hope we don't get sunburned."

"If we're careful, we won't."

"I'm going over there to bathe a little while you're doing this."

"Okay."

Mac put everything down under the palm trees. He took his shirt off and started looking for things for his fire. He found some dried wood in the edge of the jungle and some rocks. Some of the Palm trees were bent over here where they were now. Mac stared at them knowing how they got like that. He knew that when trees got bent sideways by a tornado or a hurricane, they never straightened up. They just grew sideways. He wondered what would happen if a hurricane came to this island and he wondered if their cave would be high enough.

Mac worked and finally got a fire going again. He sighed when he finally got it going. It was not easy to start a fire like that. He built it up and then looked at Jo with a grin. She was in the water bathing now. "Hey!" he yelled.

Jo looked around at him. "What?"

Mac stood up. "Look what I have created! I have created fire!"

Jo laughed. "You're terrible."

Mac laughed and sat down beside the fire. He took the fish from the backpack and cleaned it using the knife. He threw the insides out on the beach supposing that the birds would come and get it. He did not want to throw it out in the ocean. One never knew where a shark could be out there. He took the bottle of water that Jo had and poured some of the water into the coconut cups and cut the fish into fillets and put it into the cups. It was the only way he knew to cook it right now. He had no pan or anything. He wanted to figure out how to make something out of that mangrove wood. It was sturdy wood and he thought they might be able to create something out of it. They also had a lot of sand and he knew there would be some way to make some clay with that if he used the right thing.

When the fish were boiling, Mac looked out at Jo. He thought maybe he needed a bath too. "I might need a bath too," Mac said. "Hurry up!"

Jo looked around at him. She was sitting with her back to him. "Don't you rush me," she said. "I have to get clean and feel like a woman!"

Mac smiled. "Okay, just take your time then."

"Don't worry. I will be out in time for you to get a bath. I think we have plenty of time."

"Me too."

Jo wished she was in the middle of a nightmare except for the part about her and Mac together. She wondered if they would be this happy if they were over there in Hawaii somewhere. Here, they did not have to worry about any interruptions. She looked at Mac. "Are we going to stay together when we get back to New York?" she asked.

"Of course we are," Mac replied. "Why would you think we wouldn't?"

"I don't know."

When Jo got back to the fire, the fish were ready. "These are hot," Mac said as he used two sticks to get the coconut cups away from the fire. "We'll have to wait for them to cool a little."

Jo was trying to comb her hair with her hands. Mac got the cups into the sand and then he went to the backpack. "Here, let me help you with that," he said as he pulled the fish bone out.

"You're going to comb my hair with fish bones?" Jo asked.

"Yes."

Mac got over behind Jo and started to comb her hair. He soon had it smoothed out. "How's that?" he asked.

Jo looked at him. "Wonderful."

Mac gave her the "comb". "I knew you needed this," he said.

"You're so thoughtful. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Jo touched his face which was really starting to be bearded now. "You look very different with a beard," she said.

"Different in a good way?" Mac asked.

"I think you would look good with a goatee."

"But not a beard?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll get used to it the same as you will get used to my hair."

Mac smiled and rubbed her leg. "Don't worry about it," he said. "It doesn't bother me."

Jo kissed him. "I have never been so satisfied."

Mac looked into her eyes. He could not say the same thing. Jo smiled at him. "I know you were happily married," she said. "You don't have to pretend that you were not satisfied with her."

"I was."

"That look in your eyes. I think you would still be together today."

Mac was sure they would. He kissed Jo's hand. "But I love you," he said.

"And I love you."

When they fish was cool enough, they ate that. "So good," Jo said. "Even if it is boiled."

"Yes," Mac agreed. He looked up at the sky. "We better hurry and start back. We need to stay in the cave for the night." He looked around them. "I think we should build fires on each side of the island so that if they start looking for us, they might see the fire."

"But if it rains every night, it won't keep burning."

Mac thought a moment. She was right about that. "Well, maybe we should write something in the sand or with rocks," he said. "Or coconuts."

"What? Like 'help' or 'SOS' or something like that?"

"It would work if they saw it."

"How will they ever know we're here?"

"I don't know, Jo, but they'll know we're missing and I'm sure the Coast Guard will do a search. They might come out this far."

"Well, we better get started."

They found a bunch of rocks at the edge of the ocean that were smooth and spelled out "HELP" on the sand so that the water would not wash them away. They looked at it. "You think they can see that?" Jo asked skeptically.

Mac nodded. "They will be looking for something," he said. "They'll see it. Let's start back to the cave. We'll have to do another side tomorrow."

Mac took his water bottle out to the ocean and washed it out. "We can fill these up on the way back and have some water for tonight."

"Good idea."

They got dressed and then headed back into the jungle. "Are you sure we're going the right way?" Jo asked as they were entering the jungle at a different place.

"We'll figure it out once we get to the waterfall," Mac said.

By the time they got back to the cave, it was starting to get dark already. "I am so tired," Jo said.

"Me too," Mac replied.

They climbed up to the cave and dropped everything. The fire was barely burning so Mac put some more sticks on it from the mangrove forest. Then they laid down and went to sleep and did not even hear the thunderstorm that came over the island this night…


	17. Chapter 17

By the time Don Flack landed in Hawaii the next morning, he was disgusted and exhausted. He was amazed at how many times one had to change planes to get across the United States. But he had gotten a quick flight because he did not have time to wait and get a better one so he had to take what he could get. He got off the plane and got his luggage. He stretched as he walked out into the Hawaiian sun. He felt like he had been couped up for days although it had just been since yesterday.

Don got a cab to the police station to let them know he was there. The chief was not too happy about Don being there. "I'm not here to interfere with anything that you guys are doing," Don said. "I just want to find out what happened to my friends." He paused a moment. "What if it was your friends? They could be lost out there somewhere."

The chief stared at Don a moment. "Alright," he said. "But don't get into trouble."

"I won't. All I want to do is find out what happened to them." Don looked out the window. "Do you know a hotel I can stay in that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and I can get on short notice?"

"Sure." The chief wrote down an address. "You should be able to get one there."

"It's not a dump, is it?"

"No. It's clean but just lower rates."

"Thanks."

Don left the police station and walked out to the curb where his cab was still waiting. He told the driver the address. He would check in there before he started anything. He might even get some sleep. He was very tired. Jet lag. He shook his head. He hated jet lag. It interfered with what one was wanting to do.

They soon arrived at the Hilo Seaside Hotel. When Don got inside, he could not believe this was considered a cheap hotel. It certainly did not look cheap to him. He collapsed on his bed when he got in the room. He had to have some rest before he went out doing anything.

When Mac woke up, it was raining. He groaned slightly as his stomach hurt. He thought he was going to have to get out of here and go to the bathroom whether it was raining or not. He figured all this strange food they had been eating was catching up with his stomach now. He got up trying not to wake Jo and climbed down from the cave. It was definitely pouring down rain.

When Mac got back into the cave, he collapsed beside Jo. He felt sick. He hoped he was not allergic to something they had eaten. He had eaten all that food before and there was no question of the food being fresh because it was right out of the ocean. He figured his digestive system was just upset.

Jo soon woke up. Her back hurt from lying on it all night. She did not think she had moved at all during the night. She turned over toward Mac and put her arm around him. She was surprised at how warm he felt. She raised up and felt of his forehead. "Mac?"

Mac turned on his back and looked at Jo. "What?" he asked.

"Are you okay?"

Mac closed his eyes. "I don't know."

"Oh, God. Mac, don't tell me you're sick."

"Just upset stomach. Probably just trying to adjust to this food we've been eating. I think I'm just warm because of the fire."

Jo felt like crying. "Mac Taylor, don't you lie to me," she said.

Mac looked at her. "I promise, Jo. I'm not lying. I won't lie to you." He could see that Jo was afraid. He touched her face. "Don't worry."

Jo cried then. "I can't stand the thought of you dying and leaving me here alone. What would I do?"

Mac sighed. "I'll be alright. I just got a little sick."

Jo laid down beside him and lay her head on his shoulder. "Don't you leave me here," she said.

"I won't," Mac said. "I need to drink some more coconut milk."

Jo sat up. "I saw how you opened the coconut. I'll fix you one."

Mac nodded. He watched as Jo got over to the coconuts and got the knife from the backpack. She cut the coconut open and got into the milk area which spewed a little milk. She poured the milk into one of the coconut cups and got over to Mac. "Here," she said.

Mac sat up. He looked at Jo. "Diarrhea is no fun," he said. "But a young coconut's milk will help."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Mac drank the coconut milk and then lay back down.

Jo moved over to the star fruits. She cut one loose from the bunch and then cut it open. She tasted the fruit which was both sour and sweet. "Mmmm," she said.

Mac watched her eating the fruit. He wondered how women could make something like that look so incredibly seductive. He wanted to kiss her and see if her lips tasted like that fruit. Jo took another bite and then realized Mac was watching her. He licked his lips. "Do you want a bite of this?" she asked.

Mac shook his head. "No. I was just watching you."

Jo crawled over to him. She was wearing just her bikini. She sat on her knees and bent down to him. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

Mac tried not to smile. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I don't think you're as sick as you're pretending to be."

"Yes, I am, but I'm not too sick to notice you."

Jo smiled at him. "You're quite charming." She felt of his forehead. "You don't feel like you have fever anymore."

"I think my stomach feels better too."

Mac sat up and leaned against the rock wall. "Maybe we can find something else to eat when we go out today," he said.

"It's raining," Jo pointed out.

"Maybe it won't rain all day."

"I hope not. I like exploring with you."

"We have enough to eat anyway without going out."

Jo touched his face. "I'm glad we're here together."

"Me too."

Don woke up feeling better except that he was hungry. He had to get busy. He yawned and went to the bathroom and then he went to see what he could get to eat. He wanted to get started at his business but he had to have something to eat first. He went to a restaurant and ordered a meal of Hawaiian food and a non-alcoholic tropical drink. When he was done with that, he headed down to where the ship was docked that Mac and Jo had come here on.

Don could see the ship long before he got to the dock. It was huge to say the least. He paid his cab fare and decided that he needed a rental car although he had not been to Hawaii and did not know where anything was. He walked down the dock toward the ship and met a guard at the entrance to the gate of the ship. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"I need to talk to the captain of this ship," Don said.

"Are you a passenger?"

"No." Don showed him his badge. "I'm looking for two friends of mine who disappeared while they were onboard this ship."

The guard stared at Don a moment. "Oh, yeah, I heard about that," he said. "You must be from New York."

"Yeah, and I need to talk to the captain."

"I'll let him know you're here."

Don waited while the guard called. He was wearing his blue and white Hawaiian shirt and white shorts. He did not want to look conspicuous while he was here. He was sure that Melinda must have had something to do with their disappearance.

The guard came back to the gate and opened it. "Go on up," he said. "The captain is waiting for you on the observation deck."

"Thanks."

Don walked down the walk toward the ship. He had no idea what the observation deck was. He had never been on a cruise. He had not been many places except New York. He had become a cop at a young age and had just enjoyed his job. He supposed if his relationship with Jess had kept going, they would have taken a cruise eventually. Who wants to go on a cruise alone?

Don walked onto the ship and asked someone how to get to the observation deck and they told him. When he arrived there, the captain was leaning on the rail waiting for him. "Good day," he said.

"Hi," Don replied.

The captain shook his hand. "So, you're Detective Flack."

"Yes. I was wanting to investigate this disappearance. When was the last time anyone saw them on this cruise?"

"They were seen at breakfast and at dinner three nights ago. No one reported seeing them the next morning."

Don showed the captain a picture of Melinda Holmes. "Did you see this woman on this cruise?" he asked.

"Absolutely," the captain replied. "Who could forget a woman like that?" He looked at Don. "Why?"

Don put the picture away. "Well, Captain, she is a big time criminal, jewel thief, she plays with people's minds with her chemistry expertise."

The captain stared at Don a moment. "Then why isn't she in jail?" he asked.

"That's a good question, but she has money. She made her bail as well as the bail of her boyfriend." Don showed him a picture of Thomas. "What about this guy?"

"Yeah, he was with her."

Don knew they were back in New York now acting like nothing happened. He did not know how they could figure out where Mac and Jo went off the ship. He looked at the captain. "Your coordinates that last night they were seen at dinner could be important," he said.

"It could help you know about where they may have been thrown out," the captain said. He looked at Don. "I'm telling you, if they went out in there, chances are slim that they would survive long enough to get to an island or anything and besides that, there have been storms over the Pacific."

Don frowned. "We're going to look anyway," he said. "Can I see their cabin? Can I see the cabin of this other woman?"

The captain stared at Don. "How do you know she's not still here? You haven't even asked me."

"Because I saw her in New York yesterday before I boarded my plane."

"This way."

Don followed the man to Mac and Jo's cabin. He frowned as he saw their room with all their things still there. "I'll pack all this up and take it out of here before you leave port again," he said.

"You'll have time," Captain Reynolds said. "We will be here for two weeks."

"I want to see that other room."

The captain led Don to Melinda Holmes' room. He knocked. "I have to knock," he said.

Don waited. He knew there was no one there. The captain unlocked the door and they went inside. Of course, the room was cleaned out. Don looked around and then looked at the captain. "Don't let anyone in this room. I want to get someone out here to get fingerprints. We have to prove that she was here."

The captain nodded. "I have a detective onboard this ship. He may be able to help you."

"No, I would rather go with someone else. This woman has money and she can get to people."

The captain's smile faded. "Are you saying that my detective is less than honest?" he asked.

"No, sir, but I just want an unbiased party here."

"I will see to it that no one disturbs it."

"Thank you."

They left the cabin. "I really am sorry about this," the captain said. "I've never lost anyone off my cruise before."

"I understand," Don replied.

Don found his way off the ship. He had to get some help. He had no idea how to conduct an investigation like this. He knew who did it but he did not know his way around Hawaii and he did not know how to find out where Mac and Jo may have wound up. He would go back to the police station.

When Don got back to the police station, he was directed to some people who could help him. He walked into the right department and up to the desk. "I'm looking for Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams," he said.

"Right through there," the desk clerk said.

Don looked where he was pointing and saw and office. "Thanks." He walked over toward the office which had a glass door. Don hated being in strange places. He felt lost and unwanted in these kinds of places. He went on through the door and there were two people in the office who both looked up from their desks.

"Can I help you?" the blond guy asked.

Don showed them his badge. "I'm Detective Don Flack from New York. I have something that I need to discuss with you."

The two detectives stood up and walked over to Don. "We're listening," the brunette detective said. "I'm Steve McGarrett."

Don shook his hand. "Danny Williams," the other said and shook his hand.

"You can just call him Danno," McGarrett said.

"Don't pay him any attention. What are you here about?"

"Two of my friends were thrown off a cruise ship and I need help to find them," Don said, knowing how impossible that sounded.

The two stared at him a moment. "Thrown off a cruise ship?" Williams asked.

"Yeah…somewhere out there in the middle of the ocean."

"And you think they might have survived?" McGarrett asked doubtfully.

"Look, Mac Taylor is a Marine. If anyone could survive, it would be him."

"Well, tell us what you know then. We'll see if we can't get the Coast Guard involved in this, but I'm telling you, they're not going to give you much hope."

"Hope is all we have right now and if Mac and Jo are out there, it's all they have."


	18. Chapter 18

Don explained everything to the two detectives. They looked at each other and then at Don. "If they were thrown off the ship, do you think she would give them the opportunity to survive?" Danny Williams asked.

"I think she would want them to suffer before they died," Don said. "I don't believe she killed them before she threw them overboard."

"But you can't be sure of that," McGarrett said. "And even if she didn't, sharks could make a meal out of them."

"I know all that," Don declared. "I didn't come to get a lecture, I came to ask for your help. Are you guys going to help me or not?"

"Okay," McGarrett said. "We'll help you as much as we can. We'll get in touch with the Coast Guard and they'll set up a search from the point where they may have been thrown into the water. Do you have the coordinates?"

"The captain does. We know when it must have happened.

"Good. That's a start."

"So when can we get started?"

"As soon as we get this okayed."

Mac was feeling a little better although he was not completely over his trouble. "Let's go on and try to get to the other side of the island," he said.

"Are you sure you can make it all that way?" Jo asked.

"I'll just have to stop a lot."

"Maybe we shouldn't wear clothes."

Mac shook his head. "Too many plants out here that we don't know anything about."

"I keep forgetting that," Jo said. "Can they really hurt us if we don't eat them?"

"Some can. You can be allergic to them and there could even be poison ivy out there."

Jo almost shivered at that thought. "Oh, I hate that stuff."

"Me too. Let's just try and watch for it. We don't want to be bad off with that."

They began their trek through the jungle, which was wet from all the rain. "Oh, I feel like I'm in the shower or something," Jo said as she pushed her wet hair back from her face.

Mac stopped to look at one of the plants they were passing by. Jo looked at it and then at Mac. "It looks like a banana plant," she said.

"Yes, it does," Mac replied. "If I could find some bananas, they sure would help me."

"You know it takes banana trees six months to make bananas?"

"Oh, don't say that. I hope they've got some now."

"Me too."

They kept walking through the jungle and looking up into the trees to see if they could find any more fruits or anything. Mac stumbled over a vine and almost fell but he managed not to. He looked at Jo. "I think the undergrowth on this side of the island is thicker than the other side," he said.

"Looks like it," Jo said as she pushed a bush limb out of her face.

They came upon another bunch of bamboo. These bamboo stems were huge. "Oh, Mac, can we get around that?" Jo asked.

Mac looked up at the indestructible plants. "We'll just have to go around it somehow," he said.

They finally came around the edge of the bamboo cluster. Mac broke off a small bamboo shoot. It was small enough, he thought, to use for a spear. They got around the bamboo and went on toward the other side of the island. Soon, they came to a banana tree with a huge cluster of bananas on it. "Just look at that," Mac said.

Jo looked at it a moment and then looked at Mac. "How can you get that down?" she asked.

Mac looked at her. "Well, I don't know but if I can just get one banana, it will be better than none."

"Why don't you let me climb up there to get some?"

Mac considered that. "I don't guess it matters which of us goes up there but there could be spiders and stuff in those bananas."

Jo put her hands on her hips. "Are you just trying to discourage me?" she asked.

Mac smiled. "I'm just warning you."

Jo put the knife on her belt and waited for Mac to get the rope attached to a tree near the banana tree. "You can climb up there and maybe you'll be able to reach them," he said.

Jo looked at him. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck."

Jo started up the rope and finally got up to a limb on the tree. The limb was sturdy, so she moved out on it and sat down so she could reach the bananas. "Jo, be careful," Mac said as he watched her.

"I am," Jo replied. She could reach the bananas easily. "This limb is very thick."

"You can't get the whole limb without a machete. Just get us a banana."

"You mean, we'll have to climb this tree every time we want a banana?"

"Well, get a few. The green ones are ripe too. We can keep them and let them turn yellow."

Jo cut down a few bananas and then started her climb down. Mac peeled one of the yellow ones and started eating it. Jo got down from the tree. "Thanks a lot," she said.

"You're welcome," Mac replied.

"Oh, you." Jo got a banana and ate it and then they packed the others into the backpack. "That should last us a while."

"And keep us from having diarrhea."

"Oh, I hate that word."

"Me too."

They walked on and soon came to a thicket and it seemed that there was something in the thicket. "What is that?" Jo asked. "A rock?"

"I don't know," Mac said.

They made their way around the mass and came around to the front and were shocked to see that it was a cabin constructed out of bamboo. They looked at each other in surprise. "Mac," Jo said. "This means someone else has been on this island before."

Mac went over to the cabin and pulled some of the vines away until they could get the door open. Inside was a table made of bamboo and a chair also made of bamboo and there were even ancient cans of food. "How on earth did this get here?" Jo wondered.

"I don't know," Mac said. "But whoever made it obviously is long gone."

"I'll say. This can of peas expired in the nineties."

Mac wrinkled his nose. "Yuck. I certainly am not that hungry."

There was even a broom in the cabin as well as two buckets and some other supplies. "Well, this makes our stay a little easier," Mac said. He looked at Jo. "I guess we can bring everything from the cave here and stay here." He scowled. "Unless there's a storm. I wouldn't want to be here if there was a storm."

"But, Mac, this is closer to the shore. If we stayed here, and we heard something out there, we could run out to see if we could flag someone down and let them know we're here."

"Jo, we have not seen anything for the whole time we've been here."

"I saw a boat way out there one day."

"Yeah, 'way out there'. That's the point. We're too far to get attention."

"But we can keep a fire burning if we're this close to the beach. Someone might see it."

Mac nodded. "I know. I guess we can stay here and if we see a storm coming, we can go back to the cave."

Jo got the broom that was there in the cabin. She looked at Mac. "You go and bring home the bacon and I'll see if I can get this place looking a little better," she said.

Mac smiled. "Give me a bucket," he said.

Jo gave him one of the buckets. "Don't be gone all day."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Jo smiled as she watched Mac walk out of the cabin. It was not a very big cabin…only one room…but it was something. She looked at the ceiling which looked like it was even insulated to keep water out. There were some boxes in the cabin so she decided that she would see what was in them…until she moved one of them and cockroaches ran everywhere. Jo jumped back and barely kept from screaming. She hated bugs. "Alright, you pests, you're going to let me see what is in these boxes," she said.

Jo set one of the boxes up on the table and opened it. Her mouth dropped open when she saw what was inside. She picked up a frying pan, a pot and even some utensils and tin plates to eat from as well as two cups. She wondered how all this got here. It did not get here by accident. She set all the valuable items on the table. She thought of how she took it for granted that she had so many amenities at home. Now, she could see how well she had it. She got the other box and put it up on the table to see what was inside.

In this box, Jo found a machete. She was shocked as she pulled it from the sheath. She thought someone must have put all this here in case they had to come to this island…but who? There were also a canteen in this box along with a hammer and even nails. From the looks of the nails, Jo thought they must be pretty old. They were rusted but that did not matter. She took all those items from the box and then looked at the other box. What else could be in there? Now that the other two boxes were out of the way, she could see an ax sitting in the corner. She could not wait until Mac came back to see all this.

Jo set the last box on the table and opened it. There were some ancient clothes in the box that looked like they had been there many years but they looked to be in pretty good shape. She thought they looked like traditional Hawaiian clothes. There was a Hawaiian dress there and a wrap-around dress as well as two shirts and two pairs of shorts. At the bottom was a hair brush. Jo picked it up and stared at it a moment. She looked around her as she was starting to feel like an intruder. Who could have put all this here? She would certainly make use of it.

Mac was on the beach now. He rinsed the bucket out and then began looking for muscles and other sea life. He set the bucket on the sand and then went over to the rocks. He found some muscles stuck to the rocks and pulled them off and put them in the bucket. He got into the water and went under to look under the rock and sure enough, there were several big crabs under there. One of them held its claws up at him. _That's just what you think, _Mac thought. He went up and took another breath while he took the knife from the sheath. Then he went back down. He got two of the crabs and took them up to the bucket and dropped them in with everything else. He sat down on the beach a moment. He was not feeling very well although he thought he was getting better. He had to drink some more water.

When Mac got back to the cabin, he was surprised. He stared at all the stuff sitting on the table with his mouth open. "Where did you find all this?" he asked.

"It was in those boxes," Jo said and pointed toward the now empty boxes.

Mac stared at her. "How did all this get here?"

"I don't know, but it seems to have been left here for an emergency."

Mac looked at what Jo was wearing. She smiled. "You like?" she asked.

"That was there too?" he asked looking at the white Hawaiian dress Jo was wearing.

"Yes, and this." Jo showed him the brush.

"Aw, is that better than my comb."

"Oh, no, dear. I will keep that comb even when we get off this island."

Mac smiled. "I'm only kidding."

"I'm not." Jo picked up the comb that Mac had gathered for her. "I'll cherish it."

Mac set the bucket on the table. "I found plenty of muscles and two big crabs. I'll have to fix a fire out there and cook them." He picked up the pot. "I think this will make it a lot easier."

"I think so too," Jo said.

Mac went back out to the beach and got another fire going after a grueling hour. He wiped his brow with his sleeve. It was not easy to get a fire going. He put more wood and everything on the fire and then went back to the cabin to get the food. "I've got a fire going," he said and picked up the bucket. "I'll get these started boiling and see if I can find a fish."

Jo held up two more bananas. "Are you going to try and bake some of these?" she asked.

"No, I don't think I want to eat a cooked banana but I guess I can cook you one if you want it."

"Please."

Mac took the banana and went out to the beach. He got some water into the pot and put the muscles and crabs in it. Then he got a bamboo leaf and wrapped the banana in it and laid it beside the fire. He peeled another banana and sat down beside a palm tree to eat it. He took his shirt off because it was very humid and hot out there. He wondered what Jo was doing out there at that cabin but then he heard a sound he had not heard since he got on this island. He stood up and walked back to where the cabin was and found Jo swinging the machete and clearing some of the vines and other bushes away.

Mac just watched her for a moment. Then she turned around and gasped as she was startled. "Will you not sneak up on me like that?" she asked.

Mac looked around them. "Well, who else would be here?" he asked. "There's no one else on the island."

"Well, I'm not completely a cavewoman yet so I still have some of my instincts from home."

Mac smiled. "You'll never be a cavewoman."

"Oh, won't I?"

"Even if you do, I'll be your caveman."

Jo laughed. "You're getting close."

Mac smiled. "Are you coming out to the beach?" he asked.

"I just wanted to tidy up some of this. I finally got the inside of the hut dusted a little."

"Well, I'll be out there watching the food and I'm going to build up a big signal fire."

"Great."

Mac looked at her. "I sure could use the machete," he said.

"Oh, of course." Jo gave his the machete. "But you have to clear some of this when you come back."

"Don't worry." He looked up at the sky. "Tomorrow I'll go and get some of our stuff from the cave and get us some more water." He packed some things into the backpack to take with him to the beach, including the dishes to wash.

Jo watched Mac walk out to the beach. She thought she might miss this when they got off this island. It was only the two of them working together to survive. It was not something that usually happened.

Mac walked out to the beach where there were a few mangroves near the water. He chopped some limbs off them with the machete to make a bigger fire that would burn longer. Mangrove wood burned slowly so he could make one that would last all night long and then they could use the ashes to make some soap with the coconut milk. He was sure Jo would appreciate that. He smiled at her attitude toward the comb. When he had enough limbs, he went back over to his other fire. He gathered a few rocks and stood the mangrove limbs up in a circle with a middle point and put dried coconut grass and things in the middle to get the fire going. He got a flame from the other fire and lit the signal fire. He soon had the fire going well. He looked out across the ocean but he did not see any boats or anything. He wondered how far they were from Hawaii. He could see an island far in the distance but he had no idea whether it was inhabited or not.

When the fire was burning good, Mac sat down under the palm tree and checked the food. It was boiling good but all the muscles were not opened yet. There had been a pair of tongs and some spoons in the box with the dishes so he took the tongs and took one of the crabs out. He could not tell if it was ready yet so he decided to let it cook as long as the muscles did.

Jo soon came out to the beach. "So, you're just taking it easy out here?" she asked.

Mac looked up at her. "No. I'm watching the food."

"That's a likely story."

Mac smiled and looked out across the water. "You know, if you think about it, this is a pretty good vacation," he said. "Nobody here to bother us, no worries…except getting rescued…but other than that."

"Well, I worry about getting sick or not having enough to eat," Jo said.

"I think there's enough to sustain us for a while. There are a lot of coconuts out there and all that star fruit."

"Speaking of that, when are we going to get it?"

"I'll go tomorrow. I just want to sit here and relax right now."

"What about water?"

Mac sighed. "Okay, I'll go get some water."

"I'll do it. You can stay here. After all, you've been sick."

"Don't get lost."

"I won't. I learned from the best."

Mac smiled. "I love you."

"And I love you." Jo leaned over and kissed Mac and then she headed into the jungle. She was a little nervous about going alone but she knew there was nothing to be afraid of. She got the water containers and headed for the stream. It seemed to run right down the middle of the island and then there was the water fall too. She liked this island even if it was wild and uninhabited. It was still beautiful.


	19. Chapter 19

When Jo got out into the jungle, Mac laid down on the sand. He felt worse than he would have wanted Jo to know. He looked up at the sky. He felt weak and tired. Maybe he could just rest a little while. He looked at the food cooking beside the fire but they were not ready yet. He thought maybe if he lay there and rested a while he would feel better.

Jo walked to the stream and soon found the cave. She climbed up in it and gathered up the blankets and the star fruits. She left the rest of the coconuts since there were plenty of those on the beach anyway. She climbed down and headed back to the beach. She thought it was a little spooky out here alone and that made her even gladder that Mac was with her. It would be horrible to be stranded alone. She filled up the canteen and the two water bottles with water and then headed on to the beach. When she got to the cabin, she could smell something like something burning. She thought it smelled like burning food. She hoped Mac had not burned the crabs and everything.

Jo put all the stuff she brought back with her into the cabin and then went on out to the beach. She found Mac sleeping and the water had boiled out of the pot and the crabs were black. "Mac!" she said.

Mac jerked out of his sleep. Jo had her hands on her hips. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Mac sat up but he felt a little dizzy. "What?" he asked.

"You burned the food."

Mac looked at the pot. He rubbed his face. "I'm sorry," he said. "I was tired."

Jo got over to him and felt of his face. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Mac nodded. "I'm just weak."

"You don't feel like you have fever."

"I don't think I do. I just have to get my strength back. The bananas helped but I still don't feel good."

Jo stood up. "I'll see if I can find some more crabs and muscles."

Mac lay back down. "Okay. I found them over there at those rocks," he said pointing.

Jo looked at him. She was worried about him. It was not like him to just lie there and not do anything. She got the bucket and went over to the rocks carrying the knife with her. She found the crabs that Mac had found earlier and got two of them and a few mussels. Then she went back over to the fire. She threw away the burned food and put the new ones in the pot with some water and set them beside the fire. She looked at the banana which was not burned but was thoroughly cooked and caramelized.

Jo sat down beside Mac. "Wake up," she said.

"I'm awake," Mac said. "I'm just resting."

"You can lay your head in my lap."

Mac moved and lay his head in her lap. "This is better," he said with a smile.

Jo peeled the banana further. She had to lay it on the plate because it was very hot. "You sure you don't want to eat some of this?" she asked.

"I don't like cooked bananas," Mac said. "It's just not like they're supposed to be."

"Whatever you say." Jo rubbed his hair. "You're not lying to me about how you feel, are you?"

Mac opened his eyes and looked at her. "No. I just don't feel good but I don't feel as bad as I did this morning."

"Just don't lie to me."

"I won't."

Don's phone rang as he was getting into the car with Detective Williams and Detective McGarrett. "Flack," he answered.

"Don, we found out which plane Melinda Holmes came in on," Danny said. "She had been to Hawaii alright. We traced that plane all the way back there."

"I already know she was on that cruise because the captain recognized her."

"We're going to bring her in for questioning when we get a warrant."

"Good. Make sure you find out when she threw them overboard if you can."

"We will."

Don put his phone away. "They traced the flight that Melinda Holmes was on back to here," Don said.

"Well, you already knew she was on the cruise," Williams pointed out.

"Yeah, but this woman has money. We have to have all the evidence we can get." Don looked around the car. "Nice car."

"Thanks," Williams replied. "It's my car, but he always drives."

McGarrett looked at him. "Are you going to start that again?" he asked.

"Well, you always jump in the driver's seat of 'my' car."

"I like to drive and you always just get in and don't say anything until we're going down the road."

"I guess it's because I know there's no point in arguing with you."

"Good."

Don thought they sounded like himself and Danny. He felt close to Danny, like a brother. They argued sometimes almost like these two he was with now. They had gotten the exact coordinates from the captain of where the ship had been the night Mac and Jo supposedly abandoned ship unexpectedly. Once the Coast Guard had those coordinates, they could try to estimate which way the currents and everything else might have taken Mac and Jo. Don just hoped they were out there somewhere and not in some fish's belly.

Jo was really getting worried about Mac. He was sleeping and snoring. She had not heard him snore before…then again, she had not been sleeping with him long. She shook his shoulder. "Mac, wake up," she said.

Mac sat straight up and looked around him. He looked at Jo. "I must have been dreaming," he said.

"You were also snoring," Jo said.

Mac scowled. "I don't snore."

"You do so. I certainly was not sitting here snoring myself. And I don't think there is some wild animal out here in these woods."

Mac sat up. "I think that nap made me feel better anyway," he said. He looked at the fire. "You got more?"

"Yes," Jo replied. "Don't you remember?"

Mac thought a moment. "I guess I was just sleepy."

"I guess you were."

Jo got the food from the boiling water and put it on the plates except for the mussels that were not opened. "I was afraid you had eaten a mussel that made you sick," she said.

Mac shook his head. "No, I think it was just this change in diet," he said. "I'm not used to eating this way."

They ate for a moment in silence. Mac looked out across the water. He was sure the others must know that they were missing by now. He wondered if they would be able to find them. Jo thought of Ellie. She knew that Ellie was safe but she knew she must be worried about her. She had promised to call her when she got to Hawaii.

Jo looked at Mac. "Ellie must have gotten worried when I didn't call her from Hawaii," she said.

Mac nodded. "I am sure they know we're missing by now," he said.

"What must she be thinking?"

Mac looked at her. "They'll find us," he assured her. "I'm sure Danny and the others will use every resource they can get."

"But, Mac, they don't even know whether we're alive or not."

"It will take a lot more than that for them to give up."

Don, Detective Williams and Detective McGarrett arrived at the Coast Guard boat that was docked there. Detective McGarrett was known so he let the captain know what was going on. "Do you know what the chances are that they're still alive out there?" the captain asked.

"Yes," McGarrett said. "But we want to take that chance. We have the coordinates of where the ship was the last time they were seen on it and we want to start there."

"We'll do what we can but you have to look at this…"

McGarrett, Williams and Don looked at the radar screen. Don stared at it a moment and then looked at the captain. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

"It's a hurricane," the captain said. "We don't know which way it will go yet. If they're alive out there somewhere, they're probably in the Archipelago somewhere." He pointed to the map on the wall.

Don looked at the sprinkling of small islands on the map. "All these are uninhabited?" he asked.

"Most of them are. Those very small ones there are."

"And what would happen to one of these islands if a hurricane came around it?"

The captain looked at Don. "Well, it's according to how close the eyes comes in but they could be completely covered."

Don pushed his hair back with his hands. "When can we get started on this?" he asked.

"We can go out but when that hurricane gets close, we have to come back in," the captain said. "I'm sorry."

Don walked away from them while they talked more. He could not give up on Mac and Jo. He just knew they were out there somewhere. He got his phone and called Danny.

"Messer," Danny answered.

"Danny, there's a hurricane coming over here and the captain here says that some of those islands out there are covered with water."

Danny was silent a moment. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do everything I can to find them."

"We're going to get Melinda Holmes to question her."

"Okay. I just hope we can find them in time."

Danny hung up the phone. He rubbed his face and leaned on his desk. Lindsey came in there. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Hurricane," Danny replied.

"A hurricane?"

"Yes." Danny stood up. "Let's go get that witch and make her talk."

Lindsey shook her head. "I don't know what good that's going to do," she said. "She doesn't know where they are right now."

"But we can get her for attempted murder."

"But you know that we can't even prove that she murdered anyone without a body."

"I don't want to think about murder right now. I want to think that Mac and Jo are out there somewhere."

"Me too but you know they don't have much of a chance."

"I know."

Mac was washing the pots and everything while Jo washed in the ocean again. He was feeling much better now that he had drunk some more water. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind slapped him in the face. Mac looked toward the horizon and he realized that the water was becoming a little choppy. He swallowed hard as he finished cleaning the pans and plates. He remembered when he was in the Marines and a hurricane was coming when they were on the ocean on a ship. He remembered how that first gust of wind hit. He looked at the choppy water. It knew something was out there. He looked toward the horizon again. He could see some clouds and what looked like thunderheads.

Mac finished what he was doing and looked toward Jo. She was getting cleaned up in the water and trying to clean her hair with sand and coconut milk. He had tried to make a mixture that would be good enough. He was definitely good enough to clean the body. He was going to try some of it himself. He took the pots and things back to the cabin and went back out to the beach. He stripped down and got into the water. Jo came out and stood on the beach.

"Now don't be trying to see anything," Mac said. "I want to get clean."

Jo folded her arms. "And just what makes you think I would want to see anything?" she asked haughtily.

Mac grimaced as he got into the salt water. "I hate diarrhea," he said.

Jo unfolded her arms. "Is it bad?" she asked.

"Not too bad. I think this salt water will help a lot." Mac relaxed in the water a moment and looked at Jo. "Did you feel that gust of wind?"

"Yes," Jo replied. "Why?"

"I think we're going to have trouble in a few days."

Jo frowned. "Why?"

Suddenly, another big gust of wind hit them. Jo looked toward the horizon and then at Mac. "You don't mean…"

Mac nodded. "Look how choppy the water is getting."

"Oh, Mac. What are we going to do?"

"We'll have to stay in the cave. It's indestructible."

"Mac, you know that this island could be covered."

"Yes, but we'll have to do the best we can. If we die together, it will be better than alone won't it?"

Jo folded her arms. "No. I want to see my kids again," she said.

Mac sighed. He wished he could do something but there was definitely nothing anyone could do in the face of a hurricane. "We just can't give up hope, Jo," he said. "If the eye doesn't pass over this island, it might not be covered."

"Might not be. That is not very reassuring."

"It's all I've got."

Jo sat down on the beach and looked at Mac. "You hurry and get out of there," she said.

"Why?"

"Because I want to be close to you."

"Well, I want to make sure I'm clean before I get out."

"I suppose that's a good reason for delaying me but I want to get washed too so hurry it up."


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter done. Been working on assignments again. :) Hope you all enjoy this chapter and there is much more to come. **

Don was surprised at how long it took to get out to the point where it was thought that Mac and Jo were thrown off the ship. He was in a Coast Guard helicopter which was conducting part of the search. Don stared at the water. He was starting to feel like it was a hopeless cause. He could not imagine being out here in the water like that with no land in sight. It would be a horrible feeling to say the least.

Danny Williams was sitting beside Don. "Hey, don't worry," he said. "If they're out here, we'll find them."

Don looked at him. "I didn't even realize how far this was until we got out here," Don said. "It's so far."

Williams had to agree that it was a long way. "Hey, people have survived being out in the ocean," he said. "You never know."

"But there have even been storms out here. How can they survive that?"

"Maybe the storm carried them closer to some land."

"But where?"

"Maybe they are on an island that has plenty of resources. If they have that, they can survive."

Don looked out the window. What were the odds? He knew Mac would have been determined to survive…and he knew Jo would have been too. He knew she would want to get back to her kids. He had seen a lot of determined people survive things but he had never seen anyone more determined than a mother.

Mac and Jo had gotten out of the water. "It won't be here for a day or two," Mac said.

"So, what do we do till then?" Jo asked.

"Prepare. We need to get a lot of food up in that cave so that if it rains for several days, we will have something to eat without leaving the cave."

Jo nodded. "We need to get more of those bananas," she said. "We don't want to wind up with diarrhea again."

"Right."

For the rest of the day, Mac and Jo worked at stocking the cave and carried the tools they had found to the cave as well. They filled the bottles and things with water as well. "If we run out of water, we can always catch some," Mac said. "We would be able to drink tropical rain."

Jo sat down inside the cave and rubbed her forehead. "It's so hot and humid," she said. She took her shirt off. "No wonder people who live on islands don't wear a lot of clothes."

"I agree," Mac replied as he took his shirt off. "I just don't want to go through this jungle without my shirt."

Jo fanned her face with her hand. "We have to get a palm leaf to use for a fan," she said.

"That should be easy."

Jo looked at him. "Are you kidding? You see how high up those things are."

"But on one side of the island, the trees are kinda bowed over and they're easy to reach. I think hurricanes have been by here before."

"Mac, I am scared."

Mac nodded. "Me too." He looked at Jo. "I wish we could get out of here but I just don't know how."

"Maybe after this storm we should try to build some sort of raft now that we have the machete."

"We could try but if we get out there and can't find our way anywhere, we could be worse off than we are now. At least here, we can rest and we can be out of the sun." Mac looked at Jo. "You're starting to get a tan now." He smiled.

"You think I look good with a tan?" Jo asked.

"Of course but you look good in au natural too."

Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "You're starting to get a little golden too."

"How do you like my beard?"

"I don't know. It's not how I'm used to seeing you."

Mac chuckled. "It's not how I'm used to feeling either." He rubbed his chin. "I think I'm going to try and shave with the knife. I'll use some coconut oil for aftershave."

"Can you really shave with a knife?"

"Well, people shave with a straight razor."

"That's different."

"Not much different."

"The difference is 'straight'. A knife blade is anything but straight."

"Jo, I've been shaving a long time. I know how to keep from cutting my throat."

Jo covered her mouth. "I'm sorry. I guess I was just thinking of the first time Tyler shaved." She looked at Mac. "It wasn't all that long ago, you know."

"I know." Mac stood up. "Are we going to spend the night out there at the cabin tonight?"

Jo considered that. "I don't know. Up here, we don't have to worry about bugs or anything."

Mac nodded. "Right."

"There were cockroaches in that cabin, Mac. If one of those things crawled up on me while I was sleeping, I would just die."

Mac smiled. "Okay, we'll stay here." He fixed the fire back in the cave so they could boil the seafood for their meal.

Don was arguing with Williams and McGarrett. "Can't we look longer today?" Don asked. "It's not dark yet!"

"But it would get dark before we got back," McGarrett said. "There's no way you're going to find them out there in the dark."

Don did not want to quit yet. "I want to be back out there at the first light," he said. "That storm is out there and I don't want them to be caught out in it."

"We understand that but it's going to take time to find them."

"Too much time."

Don turned around and walked away from them. Danny Williams looked at Steve. "You know how he feels, don't you?" he asked. "What if it was me out there?"

Steve looked at him. "I know how I would feel," he said. "But that doesn't change the facts." He looked out across the ocean. "Chances are that they're not even out there to find." He looked at Danny. "You know that, don't you?"

"Of course, but we have to make the effort, don't we?"

Steve nodded. "They just might have survived."

Don walked back to his hotel. He plopped down in a chair in the outdoor restaurant. He looked around him at all the people laughing and talking and having a good time, not even knowing that there were two people lost out there somewhere and might have even been on the same cruise with them. He leaned on the table and rubbed his forehead. He could not expect them to care. They did not know Mac and Jo and might not even know that they had been thrown off the ship.

Danny and Lindsey had Melinda Holmes in the interrogation room. She folded her arms and glared at them as they walked in. "You have no right bringing me here," she said.

"Yes we do," Danny replied.

Danny and Lindsey sat down at the table across from her. "We know you went to Hawaii on this cruise," Lindsey said and laid a paper on the table.

Melinda looked at the paper and then at Lindsey. "So what?" she asked. "I have a right to go on a cruise if I want."

"But you went on the same cruise that Mac Taylor was on," Danny said. "And you didn't stay for all the luaus. You came back on a flight." He laid another paper on the table. "And why didn't you use your own name?"

Melinda stared at him. "If it wasn't my name, how do you know it was me?" she asked.

"You're quite unforgettable," Lindsey said. "Believe me, people remembered seeing you with your haughty actions and with your two body guards."

Melinda scoffed. "So what if I was on the cruise. What does that have to do with anything? There's no restraining order."

"You know what you did," Lindsey said. "You and your two bodyguards threw Mac and Jo overboard on that cruise."

Melinda stared at her with an amused look. "Are you joking? I did no such thing. Why? Are they missing?"

Danny blew out a breath to try and stay calm. Lindsey did not care about staying calm. "You know you did it!" she declared. "You couldn't stand it because Mac rejected you! So you wanted revenge!"

Melinda leaned on the table and smiled at Lindsey with a smug smile. "Prove it," she said. "I want my lawyer."

"You're going to need him," Danny replied.

"Not for this flimsy case you have. I'm going to sue this department for harassment."

"Not when we find Mac and Jo," Lindsey informed her. She stood up. "We know you were there and we know you did it. We're going to find them and they're going to tell us who did it."

Melinda stared at her. "If they were thrown out in the ocean, do you really think they could survive?"

"If anybody can, Mac Taylor can, and Jo is with him. He would do anything to save her because he 'loves' her."

Lindsey watched to see the rage in Melinda's eyes. She wanted to make her mad so she would spill something. Instead, Melinda smiled. "You're really good," she said. "Do you always make people confess like that?"

Lindsey frowned. "You're going to do time for this one," she said. "You may have gotten away with the last one but you won't get away with this."

Melinda folded her arms. "Watch me."

Danny and Lindsey left the interrogation room. "OH! That woman makes me so mad!" Lindsey exclaimed.

"Take it easy, Montana," Danny said. "We'll get her."

"Did you see how smug she is! She thinks she's going to get away with this too!"

Danny put his arm around Lindsey as they headed to the elevator. "She may not," he said. "She was interested in whether they would have a chance or not. She might use some of her resources to look for them."

Lindsey stared at him a moment. "Do you really think she would?" she asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it. We're going to monitor her for the next few days."

"But you heard what Flack said. There's a hurricane over there."

"But that doesn't mean it will hit Hawaii."

"They're not in Hawaii, Danny. They're out there probably on some little uninhabited island that nobody knows about."

"I know, but we have to have hope."

"We can't lose that."

Mac came back to the cave with some seafood in one of the buckets. "I thought I would bring extra," he said. "If it's raining tomorrow, we can eat them from this. We can keep them in the water."

"Good," Jo replied. "I got some fresh water from the stream to cook them in."

Mac sat down and plopped the seafood into the boiling water. "It's amazing to eat things that are not salted or anything."

"They're kinda salty anyway from the ocean."

"I never liked ketchup on fish unless they were filleted and breaded."

"Me neither. But I cannot eat fries without ketchup. They're just too dry without it."

"It's only tomato sauce with some spices in it."

"But they're wonderful spices. Do you like mustard?"

"On hotdogs," Mac said. He smiled. "I used to get dogs and the Cubs game in Chicago and I just poured the mustard to them. They're delicious."

"When we get off this island, why don't we go to a baseball game?"

"Sounds good to me."

"I used to go to the football games at the college. I was even a cheerleader."

Mac smiled. "I'll bet you were something when you were in college."

"Oh, I was," Jo said with a smile. "I was in every club I could get in."

"I was a bookworm. I wasn't too much into clubs. I spent a lot of time in the library."

Jo laughed. "That sounds like you. You're probably still a bookworm."

"I guess you could say that if I ever have time to actually read a book."

Jo sighed. "I would give anything right now to have a book to read."

"Me too."

When the seafood was ready, they started eating. Mac lay down on his side to eat. "I think I'm going to be lazy before I get off this island," he said.

"I know I am," Jo replied. "It's not all that bad except that no one knows we're here."

Mac nodded. "I want to watch when those boats go by way out there," he said. "If we see that they have a schedule that they always come, we can try to build a raft and get out there past the curve of the earth so they could see us if we signal them with something or wave at them."

"What would we signal them with?"

Mac looked at the machete. "That machete is pretty reflective," he said. "It might be able to glare enough sun to be seen a long way across the water."

"Do you know Morse code?"

Mac looked at her and nodded. "Yes, I do. I could let them know that it wasn't just a reflection they were seeing."

Jo thought about that. "It's incredible."

"What is?"

"The knowledge that you have."

Mac took a bite of his food. "You have to have a lot of knowledge when you're in a war or something," he said. "It can save your life."

"I think it can in this situation too."


	21. Chapter 21

When morning came again, Mac was lying awake staring out of the cave as the light started to dawn outside. Jo was lying next to him thinking about how she loved being with Mac. She wanted to be with him all the time and it made being stranded not so bad. She found herself thinking about him during the day when they were separated doing things on the island. It had been a long time since she felt like that.

Mac pulled the blanket tighter over him. It was chilly on the island first thing in the morning. "Jo," he whispered.

"What?" Jo asked.

"I love you. I just want you to know that."

"I love you too, Mac."

Mac fell asleep again and when he woke up, Jo was not in the cave. He sat up and looked around. He could smell something else cooking. He did not want to move. He was warm and even though the floor was hard, he thought he was starting to get used to it. He thought he would like to spend just one night out there on the beach though. He thought of that hurricane. What would they do if it came over the island? He had been able to survive here, but even he could not do much to survive a hurricane. It was a violent storm and it could last for days depending on the size and how fast it was moving.

Mac sat up as he was wondering where Jo was. He thought she must have gone to find more food. He looked in the pot beside the fire. The same old thing they always ate. He frowned. He was getting very tired of mussels and crabs. He had always loved seafood, but when it was the only thing to eat, he supposed anyone would get tired of it.

Melinda Holmes was contemplating what she would do if Mac and Jo survived. She paced back and forth in her office. She had sent some of her people out to see if they could find them. They even had a small stash on a deserted island where they could go and disappear for a while. She had never wanted to live out there but she would and she would have people to go to the mainland and get what she needed. It would not be like they were totally isolated. They had chosen that island because it had running fresh water. She thought if Mac and Jo made it to that island, they could survive. She had even planted a star fruit tree and a mango tree there as well as strewed some banana tree seeds. She knew one could survive if they had those fruits…not to mention that they had put other things on the island to survive. She thought they would have to replace the stores because by now, they were pretty old. She had sent Thomas and two others to that island this morning. They would be arriving some time during the day.

Little did Melinda know that Danny and Lindsey were keeping track of what her minions were doing. They knew they had gone to Hawaii during the night. Danny had informed Flack and he had gotten himself a flight to Hawaii as well after a long debate with the chief. Danny knew that Flack had help over there but he wanted to help too. This could turn into an ugly situation and he wanted to help Mac and Jo if he could. They would do the same for any of them.

Don was in the helicopter with the search team again. They were searching the outer island in the Archipelago. Don could not believe how many there were. "This is unbelievable," he said.

"Isn't it?" Danny Williams asked. "And most of them have at least one palm tree on them."

"Yes, I noticed that one with only one tree standing in the middle."

"Good thing they didn't land on that one."

"There was barely room to sit."

"It would be better than being in the middle of the ocean," Steve McGarrett said. "I would much rather be on that island."

"Well, if you put it that way, I guess I would too," Danny replied.

Don remembered what Danny Messer had told him that morning. Thomas Narone had come back to Hawaii last night. He was Melinda Holmes' main one. Danny was coming to Hawaii to see if he could find out what they were doing. They even knew what hotel they checked into. Narone had brought two others with him. Don was sure they knew what they had come back to Hawaii to do. They were going to do a search for Mac and Jo to make sure they did not survive. How did they think they could find them better than they could? Then again, they did not know how many people that Melinda Holmes might have working for her. She might have enough to scour all those islands in a short time. Don knew how crime bosses worked and he knew Melinda Holmes was one. She had even tried to get Mac into that. He was not sure why she did that unless it was just to prove that she could. Mac had been lucky that the psychiatrist could tell that he had been manipulated and drugged. She had not changed his name or anything, she had only altered his personality. Don almost shivered at that thought. He never wanted to experience that.

Danny Messer landed in Hawaii. He had not been able to get on the same flight as the two he was following, but he was not far behind them. The chief had already informed the Hawaii P.D. that he was coming and what he would be doing. Someone was there to pick him up at the airport. "Good morning," Danny said and shook hands with the man.

"I'm Chin Ho Kelly."

"Danny Messer."

"I'm going to help you with this investigation."

"Thanks. I'm tracking Thomas Narone and two others that he brought with him. We think they may be looking for Mac and Jo."

"I heard about them. How do you know they survived?"

"Well, there have been no bodies washed ashore here or anything like that. If they had died out there, wouldn't their bodies wash ashore?"

Chin considered that. "Eventually, but it is according to the currents and all and they could have washed ashore on some deserted island."

"Right but we want to make sure they're not out there on one of those islands."

"I don't blame you. I would do the same thing if one of my friends was out there."

They got into the car and went over to the hotel that Thomas Narone and the other two had checked into. "I just hope they haven't gone out already," Danny said.

"Chances are that they could have," Chin replied.

Just as they said that, they saw Thomas come from the hotel. "Our luck just got better," Danny said.

They watched as Thomas and the two with him got into a car and headed out. Danny and Chin followed them down to a boat dock where they rented a boat. "We have to get a boat," Danny said.

"Why don't we just inform the Coast Guard?" Chin asked. "If we follow them on a boat, they are likely to see us."

"But I want to be going that way too."

"Right."

Chin contacted the Coast Guard to let them know what was going on. They informed the helicopter. Don was shocked. "How can they know where they are?" he asked.

"They probably don't," McGarrett said. "They must know something about that island chain."

"Maybe they have one of those islands stored so they can survive on it," Danny Williams said.

"I've heard of people doing that and taking vacations out there."

"It would be just like her," Don said. "That woman is evil and she will do anything to get away with her crimes."

Later that day, Mac and Jo were on the beach when they saw a boat. "Hey, that boat looks close," Jo said.

Mac watched the boat a moment. "It actually looks like it's coming this way," he said.

They watched the boat a few more minutes. "It 'is' coming this way!" Jo said. She ran out onto the beach and waved at the boat. "Hey!"

Mac stood beside her and waved as well. Soon, the boat was close enough that they were sure that it was coming to that island. "It must be a rescue boat," Jo said. She hugged Mac. "Oh, Mac, we're going to get off this island."

Mac kissed her and then looked at the boat again. His smile faded as he saw the people getting off the boat. "JO!" he exclaimed. "Run!"

Jo looked at him puzzled. "What?" she asked.

Mac pushed her toward the jungle. "That is not a rescue boat!"

Jo looked toward the boat again and realized the people had guns in their hands. She ran into the jungle with Mac right behind her. "Mac, what are we going to do?" she asked.

"Don't talk!" Mac said. "Be quiet!"

Mac grabbed Jo's hand and they ran through the jungle until they came to the water fall. "Come on," Mac whispered.

"Who are they?" Jo asked.

"They are Melinda's people."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "She must have sent them here! But how did she know?"

Mac stared at her. "All that stuff we found," he said. "It had to be left here by them."

They climbed up the hill beside the water fall and around to the back of it where there was a small cave, not big enough for them both. "Mac, we can't get in there," Jo said.

"But you can," Mac whispered. "You stay here." He pulled the knife from the sheath.

Jo looked at it and then at Mac. "I can help you," she said.

Mac shook his head. "It only takes one. You stay here and stay quiet no matter what you hear."

"But they must have seen us."

"It doesn't matter. They won't know you're here…and I intend to make their lives miserable."

Jo swallowed as she saw that determined finality in Mac's eyes. She nodded and kissed him. "You come back to me."

"I will."

Mac climbed back down from the cave and headed around the pool at the waterfall and around the bamboo forest. He could hear Thomas Narone and the others coming through the jungle. "I saw them come this way!" Thomas was saying.

"They could be waiting for us," one of the others said.

"Just come on!"

Mac took his shirt off so that the white would not be showing in this jungle. His pants were not all that white anymore anyway. They were stained and were very dingy now. He moved through the bamboo forest silently until he could see his three targets. He moved around until he got ahead of them on the trail they were on and climbed up into a tree. He would take them out one at a time. He thought he might have to go back to the cave and get the machete but when he took out the first one, he would have a gun.

Mac watched as they passed by under him. The last one in the line was a little further behind the other two which Mac was glad of. He waited until the others were further up and then he jumped down on the third one. He incapacitated the man and then dragged him into the jungle. He took the weapon from him and all the ammunition that he had. He looked toward where the others had gone when he heard one of them yell, "Ryan!"

"Ryan isn't coming back," Mac whispered. He moved from his location and out further into the jungle as he could hear the other two coming that way to look for their comrade.

Don was still in the helicopter, but they had gone back to get more fuel. Danny Messer and Chin were out in the boat they had confiscated but they did not see the other boat at the moment. "They must have known where they were going," Chin said.

"And where could that be?" Danny asked.

"Could be any of those islands. There are a lot of them out there."

Danny could not believe this. They were looking for one boat but there must be hundreds out here in the water. However, most of them were staying close to the "inhabited" islands except the large ones that were destined somewhere else.

Don called Danny but could not get an answer. He figured he must be out of reach out that far. He knew that Danny and Chin had kept on going out there. He was still waiting for the helicopter to go out again. It would be a few more minutes. He could not help but wonder what those goons of Melinda's were doing. There was no way that they could know whether Mac and Jo were alive or not. He was sure they were up to something else.

Mac was listening to Thomas and his other companion. He almost laughed at their anger over the loss of their other comrade. They did not care that he was dead so much as they cared about being outsmarted. Mac frowned. Yes, he had killed the man, but they were trying to kill him and Jo and he was not going to allow that. They would stop at nothing to keep them from making it off this island and testifying against Melinda. Mac wondered if she had brainwashed them into submission like that. He could not believe that she had caused him to think he was a thief and that he was part of a criminal organization.

Mac realized the other two had gotten very quiet. He looked through the bushes and he could see Thomas moving at an angle to where he was hiding. Mac crawled that way so that he would get into Thomas' path. He waited for him to pass by and he grabbed his leg. The gun fired as Thomas fell because he had his finger on the trigger. Mac knew that would attract the attention of the other gunman. He jumped on Thomas and wrestled the gun away from him and threw it out into the jungle. Then they were both on their feet.

"I knew you were still alive," Thomas growled. "It would have been too good to be true for you to be dead."

Mac glared at him. "All this over a woman! You're doing this for a woman who doesn't even love you! She doesn't even know what love is!"

"You should know, shouldn't you! She told me about your little fling!"

"It meant nothing to me."

Just then, Thomas tackled Mac and they were in a struggle for dominance. Mac had the knife in his hand and Thomas had one on his side. He could not get his because Mac was keeping him from doing that. "You just think you're better than me!" Thomas declared.

"I 'am' better than you!" Mac replied. "You're a criminal! You kill people at your leisure and you rob people who work hard for what they have! And I put people like you away!"

"You killed Ryan!"

"He would have killed me!"

They struggled longer. The other gunman was definitely coming that way, but he did not know that Jo had not followed Mac's instructions. She was coming through the jungle and she had seen him. She could also hear the struggle between Mac and Thomas. She would take care of the other one because she was sure he was headed for that struggle to help Thomas. He would have to get through her first.

Mac finally threw Thomas off him and they got up again. Mac tackled him before he had time to think of anything else to do. They rolled close to a tree and Mac slammed Thomas' head into it. He stared at him a moment, out of breath, to see if he was really out. Thomas did not move. Mac relaxed then, but only for a moment. He remembered that the other one was out there somewhere. He gathered up Thomas' ammunition and weapons and headed through the jungle. Now, he had two guns plus a pistol that Thomas had on him.

As Mac was coming through the jungle, he heard someone else coming that way. He hid behind a tree and waited for a moment. When he thought the person was coming around the tree, he moved out into the trail. Jo screamed as she saw Mac come out in front of here. "Mac!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

Mac had to get his breath back. "I thought I told you to stay where you were!" he said. "I could have shot you!"

Jo put her hands on her hips. "I wasn't going to just sit there and let you take on three guys alone."

Mac leaned on the tree. "Well, there's only one left."

"No, there's not." Jo held up the gun she had taken away from the other one. "He won't be chasing anyone for a while."

Mac smiled at her. "You're my kind of woman."

Jo smiled. "Oh yeah? Well, let's get to that boat!"

They started to run for the beach, but then Jo stopped. "Wait!" she said. "I want to get something before we leave." She headed back to the cave.

Mac followed her and they soon came to the cave. Jo gathered up the blankets and the comb that Mac had made for her. Mac got the machete. "Why don't we put this back in the cabin so if anyone else is stranded here, maybe they will find it?" he asked.

"Good idea."

They carried most of the stuff to the cabin and left it. Then they headed out there to the boat. They had to swim a little way because the boat was anchored out away from the sandbar. Mac helped Jo climb over into the boat and then he climbed up himself. Jo was at the controls. "I have never driven a boat in my life," she said.

"I have," Mac replied. He turned the key just as they saw Thomas and his one remaining comrade come from the woods.

"I guess they woke up pretty quick."

"I guess."

"Hey!" Thomas yelled. "You can't leave us here!"

"Watch us!" Jo yelled back. "You didn't have any qualms about leaving us!"

Mac chuckled at that and turned the boat away from the island. He figured the way the boat came from was toward Hawaii.

Don was in the helicopter heading across the water again and Danny and Chin were searching too. Danny looked up at the sky which was very gray today and the wind was making the water choppy. He hoped they could find something before that hurricane got here.

Mac and Jo saw the Coast Guard helicopter in the distance. "They must be looking for us," Jo said.

"Maybe," Mac replied. "But that's no guarantee. They may think we're dead."

Jo could not wait to get to Hawaii. "You know, our vacation is not over yet," she said. "We still have two weeks left."

Mac looked at her a smiled. "I guess we can spend it lying on the beach," he said.

"No. I want to go somewhere that I can't even see the ocean."

Mac looked at her. "What?"

"I don't want to be on an island."

"Well, where are we going then?"

"I don't know, but I want to be anywhere but on an island."

Mac looked toward Hawaii. He thought he might agree. He did not want to see the ocean anymore either. He saw that the Coast Guard helicopter was coming that way and getting closer…

Don saw the boat as they were approaching it. "Are they coming back?" he asked.

"Looks like the same boat," McGarrett said.

Danny Messer and Chin also saw the boat coming back. Danny's heart fell. He knew if they were coming back, they either killed Mac and Jo or they did not find anything.

As Mac and Jo approached the helicopter and the boat that seemed to be coming toward them, Jo waved to them. Danny realized it was a woman waving at them. "Hey, there was no woman on there before!" he exclaimed as he stood up to look.

Don almost stood up in the helicopter. "That's Jo!" he said. He laughed with happiness at seeing them.

Danny waved to Jo. He was feeling the same joy that Don was feeling.

Mac and Jo were happier than they had been in a long time. Mac stopped the boat and sat down as the other boat approached them. Danny was at the side of the boat. "Mac!" he exclaimed with a smile. "Jo! Are you guys alright?"

Jo hugged Danny as the boats got close enough together. "We're fine," she said as she just held onto Danny.

"We're sure glad to see you." Danny pointed up to the helicopter. "Don is up there."

Mac and Jo looked up at the helicopter and waved to Don even though they could not see him. "Let's get out of here," Mac said. He looked at Danny. "Oh, by the way, there are three people on that island out there who are not very happy."

Danny snickered. "I'll bet they're not."

They headed on toward Hawaii with the boat and the helicopter keeping close watch. They would soon be out of their situation and be safe again…until the next time Melinda wanted to strike…


	22. Chapter 22

Mac was lying asleep in the emergency room in Hilo, Hawaii. Jo was lying beside him. She was sleepy but she could not go to sleep. She wondered what their relationship would be like now that they were not isolated on an island together anymore. She hoped Mac would want to go on with it. It would be different now that they were around other people.

Jo looked at Mac, who was lying on his back and seemed to be totally relaxed. "Mac," she whispered.

Mac suddenly sat straight up and looked around him. He realized he was in the emergency room. He rubbed his face. Jo sat up beside him. "I didn't mean to startle you," she said.

Mac looked at her. "For a minute there, I forgot that we were off the island." He folded his arms and shivered. "I'm cold."

"Me too," Jo replied. She pulled the blanket up over them. "I guess we're used to being on that tropical island and not in an air conditioned environment."

Mac shivered as he lay down beside Jo. "I guess," he said. He looked at her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm just trying to get used to being in civilization again." Jo looked at Mac. "What about us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Our relationship? I mean, it won't be the same around other people."

Mac held her hand. "Don't worry about that," he said. "I think everybody knew we went on that cruise together so we could get better acquainted."

"I'm sure, but now we won't be alone anymore."

"Jo, I don't want to be in a place where we have to worry about whether we will have enough to eat or not and whether we will have water or whether a hurricane is going to come along and drown us. I want to go home."

Jo lay her head on his shoulder. "Me too."

The doctor soon came in to see them. He looked in Mac's eyes and ears and mouth and then he listened to his heart. "You seem to be doing well," the doctor said. "Except you had a high number of white blood cells." He took his stethoscope out of his ears. "Have you had diarrhea?"

Mac nodded. "Yes," he said and shivered. "It's freezing in here."

The doctor checked Mac's pulse. "It seems rather warm in here to me," he said. He wrote on the chart. "I'll get you something to calm your stomach down."

"Thanks." Mac had not told Jo that he had trouble again that morning.

The doctor examined Jo and found that she was healthy too. He looked at them. "Well, neither of you appears to have any sunburns or any other health problems from being stranded on an island," he said and looked at Mac. "Except you."

Mac was beginning to wonder where this doctor learned his bedside manner. When the doctor was gone, Mac and Jo lay back down. Mac pulled the blanket around him and shivered. "I wonder if I will ever get used to air conditioning again," he said.

"I'm sure we will," Jo replied as she snuggled close to him. "I never thought of how much a person adapts to their environment."

"We have to or we wouldn't be able to stand the weather."

Just then, Don and Danny came in. "So, how are you two doing?" Don asked. He was wearing his blue and white Hawaiian shirt and white shorts.

Mac looked at Jo with a mischievous look in his eyes. He turned on his back and looked at Don and Danny. "I contracted some sort of disease on the island," he said seriously.

Don and Danny leaned on the bed rail. "What?" Danny asked.

"What kind of disease?" Don asked. He backed up a step. "Is it catching?"

Danny backed up a step too. Jo thought she would not be able to keep a straight face. "No, it's not catching," Mac said. "It was something I ate."

Danny folded his arms. "Are you pulling our leg?" he asked.

Mac could not keep from smiling anymore. "Sorta," he said.

Don put his hands on his hips. "I can't believe you did that," he said.

"Hey, I just wanted to see your reaction."

"You're not really sick, are you?"

Mac rolled his eyes. "Diarrhea," he said.

"Oh no," Danny said and rolled his eyes. "Are you sure it's not catching?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It was just from the change in diet." Mac looked at Jo. "I reckon she has an iron stomach."

"I do not," Jo replied. "I just don't get sick easily."

"Yeah, you take care of yourself."

"And I'm going to take care of you."

"I take it you two got along well," Don remarked.

Mac looked at him. "Yes, we did. We worked well together and survived and we realized that we really love each other."

Jo was surprised that Mac was telling them that. She had thought he would be secretive about it. He had surprised her on that island and he was surprising her now. He was more under the surface than anyone knew. She wanted to know what was under that hard shell that he kept around him. She had seen some of it but she knew there was much more.

"So, you guys are in for the long haul," Danny said.

Mac nodded. "I would say so," he replied. "I can't think of anything I would like better."

Danny became serious. "Melinda got away," he said. "When they went out there for her, she was gone."

Mac frowned. "And where would she go?" he asked.

"We don't know. We're watching the airlines and everything but she probably has her own private plane or whatever and she can get anywhere she wants to go."

Jo rubbed her face. "I can't believe it," she said.

"She's rich," Don said. "If she wasn't, she wouldn't have been out of jail in the first place."

Mac lay back on the pillow. "Well, if she tries something again, we'll just have to be ready for her."

"How? She's unpredictable. We sure didn't know she was going to follow you on a cruise and throw you overboard."

"I know that," Mac said. "But we have to watch what we do and just be cautious."

"What kind of life is that?" Jo asked. "Are we going to be looking over our shoulder for the rest of our lives?"

"No, we'll be cautious until she tries something again. You know she will."

"But that could be a long time."

"What do you suggest? We don't know where she is."

Jo folded her arms. "If she had that stuff over there on that island, she could be there."

Mac considered that. "But the Hawaiian authorities don't have authority over there because it's a deserted island. Even if she's over there, they can't arrest her."

"But if she leaves that island and comes to the mainland to get food or anything, they can get her."

"I'm sure she will send someone else to do that."

"Do you really think that woman can live on that island like we did?"

Mac smiled. "I think a person can do anything if they have to or if they want to stay out of prison."

"So, you think she will sit over there in luxury and send other people over here to get things for her? What about storms?"

"I don't know, Jo. But I know that woman doesn't want to go to prison and I think she will send someone else over here to do her bidding and it could be someone who has no criminal record. Thomas is like a slippery piece of butter. He can get into any place he wants to go without anyone knowing he was ever there except that they know he stole something."

Jo sat up and looked at Mac. "You were much the same way," she said. "Maybe you could trick her into thinking that you want to be in her…"

"Absolutely not," Mac interrupted. "I can't believe you would suggest that. After what happened?"

Jo had never seen Mac look at her with anger like he was now. "I'm sorry."

"I won't go through that for anything. And even if I did manage to get in, she might drug me again."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think of that."

Mac folded his arms as he was lying on the bed. "I didn't mean to snap at you but I don't ever want to be in that situation again." He looked at Jo. "She took something from me that I wanted to share with you."

Jo touched his face. "Mac, she could never take what we share."

Don and Danny looked at each other. "Mac, we'll do everything we can to find her," Don said.

Mac looked at them. "I know you will," he replied. "None of this is your fault."

"She can't stay hidden forever," Danny said.

"On the contrary, I believe she can. There have been a lot of people who were never found."

"This woman likes luxury though and I don't believe she can stay on a deserted island for a very long time."

Jo looked out the window. She did not want to live her life in fear of being kidnapped and she certainly did not want her children in danger. She wanted to find that woman and get her out of the picture so they could enjoy their lives.


	23. Chapter 23

When Mac and Jo got out of the hospital, it was getting dark outside. Don and Danny had gone and gotten their luggage and everything from the ship. Mac and Jo had declared that they were not going home on a ship. They were going on a plane, but they had two more weeks of vacation and they wanted to take it. However, Ellie had been very upset when Jo called her and wanted her to come home.

"I have to go," Jo said.

"I understand," Mac replied.

"Why don't you stay for the rest of your vacation?"

"In Hawaii by myself?"

"Why not? You would enjoy it."

Mac frowned. "I don't know if I would or not. I wouldn't know what to do here alone. I want to be with you."

"But if we go home, our vacation is over."

Mac sighed. "Can't you spend one more night here?" he asked. "We could take in some of this Hawaiian atmosphere."

Jo considered that. "I could tell Ellie that I am coming home in the morning," she said.

"Do you think she would be okay with that?"

"I might not be able to get a flight before then anyway."

Mac smiled. "I just want to get to enjoy a little of Hawaii together."

Jo touched his face with her finger. "I have to talk to Ellie first."

Don and Danny drove up in the car they had rented. Mac and Jo got in the back seat. "So, where to?" Don asked.

"We're going to spend the night at the hotel," Mac said. "We'll go back home in the morning." Mac almost frowned at that. He did not want to go back home. He thought he might not go back yet and let Jo have some time with Ellie without him being around.

"We got all your stuff from the ship," Danny said. "You guys sure brought a lot of stuff."

"Hey, we were going to be gone three weeks," Jo declared.

"What do you take with you on vacation?" Mac asked. "Nothing?"

"Lindsey and I take as little as possible," Danny said. He paused a moment. "Then again, we've never actually been on a vacation except for that short one with Lucy that time."

"You've been to Montana though," Mac said.

"Yeah, that's quite a trip and quite a vacation. Definitely getting 'away' from everything."

Jo smiled. "Nothing like being nowhere," she said. "That's the good thing about some places…you have room to grow."

Don drove to the hotel where Mac and Jo still had a reservation. Since it was under circumstances beyond their control, the hotel let them have the Bridal Suite. Mac looked at Jo and raised his eyebrows. "I think we need something with two rooms," Jo said.

Mac signed the registry and the credit card document. When they were done, they were shown to their room. The room was like a small apartment of course. Don and Danny walked in and looked around. "Hey this is kinda nice," Don said. "Looks like you guys have enough room for company and then we wouldn't have to get another room."

Jo folded her arms and stared at him. "Are you kidding?" she asked.

Don looked at Danny. "You see that?" Don asked.

"Don't mess with women," Danny said. "You'll get in trouble."

Don smiled and looked at Jo. "Do you really think I would stay in this room with you two in there…"

"Shut up," Mac interrupted. "Why don't you and Danny just sleep in the car?"

"Hahaha," Don said. "I already have a room, thank you." He looked at Danny. "It has two beds. You can stay there. I don't think it has any rooms with only one bed."

"Why not?" Danny asked. He looked at Mac and Jo. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Get out," Mac said.

They could hear Don and Danny laughing as they went out the door. Mac closed the door and looked at Jo. "You have to expect that," Jo said.

"I suppose," Mac replied. He looked around the room. "It's a nice room."

"Room? I think this is more than a room."

"Oh? What is it then?"

"A love nest."

"I thought that cave was our love nest."

Jo touched his lips with her finger. "Maybe it was for a while but I want…" She looked into his eyes. "…cotton."

Mac almost laughed. "Cotton?"

"Yes." Jo ran into the bedroom and landed on the bed. "I don't ever want to sleep on rock again."

"Me neither," Mac said as he entered the room. He took his shirt off. "I want a long, hot shower."

Jo sighed. "OH, I want a long, hot bath!"

Mac smiled and ran for his own room. He had never been so glad to see a bathroom. "You know, we take things for granted!" he called.

Jo walked into her bathroom and looked at the Jacuzzi tub. "Oh, my word!" She started to undress. "I am getting in that and I might not come out the rest of the night."

Mac smiled as he heard Jo. He looked in the mirror. He definitely wanted a thorough shave and everything.

Jo got into the tub. She had brought bubble bath with her so she poured some into the water and then sat down. She relaxed in the water. "Oh, I will never take a bath for granted again!" she said.

Mac was standing under the water as hot as he could stand it. He knew he would never take it for granted either. "I hope we can get a big meal after this! I want to eat pizza!"

"I want to eat anything I can get my hands on!"

"Except seafood!"

"Or fruit!"

Mac took his time washing in the shower. He got out and put a towel around him. He got dressed and went to Jo's bathroom door. "You want me to order a pizza or are we going out?" he asked.

"Don't even expect me to get out of here yet," Jo said.

"I am not rushing you at all," Mac said. He looked in the mirror. "I am clean!" he said. "You might like me better now."

Jo laughed. "I don't know how you could get better…but I would prefer clean to dirty. I want to go out among people!"

Mac smiled. "Me too!" He went back to his own room. He got his razor and shave gel. He was tired of being a caveman and he wanted a haircut the next day.

When Mac was done in the bathroom, he went into the bedroom. He looked at the bed and he suddenly felt very tired. He pulled the covers back, dropped his towel and climbed into the bed. He could sleep until Jo got out of the tub and then they would go to eat.

As Mac opened his eyes, he thought the light was on and shining in his face, but when he got his eyes open, he realized it was daylight outside. He sat up and looked out the window and then realized it was daylight. He could not believe it. He got up and got dressed and went to Jo's room and knocked. "Jo?" he said

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I slept all night," Mac said.

Jo lay back down. "When I came out of that bathroom, you were sleeping so peacefully and I couldn't do anything but just go to bed myself," she said.

Mac sighed. "I guess I was tired."

"I was exhausted and that bath just relaxed me so much."

"That shower was wonderful."

"I'm rested now though," she said. "And I'm starving."

"Me too. I'll wait for you."

They went down to the dining room and found that there was a delicious breakfast but some of it was fruit. Mac wrinkled his nose and looked at Jo. "I don't want any fruit," he said. "I want eggs and bacon and all that stuff."

"Me too," Jo said. "Get out of my way."

Mac smiled and Jo pushed him back. They fixed their plates and went to a table to eat. "You think they will think we're pigs?" Jo asked as she took a bite of her biscuit.

"I don't care," Mac replied. He was fixing his coffee and eating at the same time. "If they had been on an island for almost a week, they might be hungry too."

Jo laughed as Mac dropped some of his food in his lap. He looked at her. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"I don't know," Jo replied. "I just feel happy to be in civilization again."

Mac sipped his coffee and closed his eyes. "That is so good," he said.

"If we're ever on an island again, I hope a big crate of food washes ashore."

"We were lucky that other stuff was there. I was afraid we would be there a long time."

"I'm glad we weren't."

"I enjoyed the time we had alone together."

"Oh, that was heavenly but I got tired of washing in the ocean. I want a bathtub and soap."

"I agree."

When they were done eating, they walked outside. "So, we're leaving today, right?" Mac asked.

Jo looked at him. "I have to, Mac," she said. "I'm sorry but Ellie was really upset."

Mac nodded. "I understand that," he said. "But I don't think I want to go home yet."

Jo looked a little surprised. "You don't?"

"No. I want to spend the rest of my vacation somewhere else."

"Where?"

Mac looked at her. "I don't know but I just don't want to go home yet."

Jo sighed. She wanted to be with him. She would call Ellie and see how she was doing now. She looked at Mac. "Are you sure you want to be alone?" she asked.

Mac considered that. "No, but I want to be somewhere else besides New York for the next two weeks."

Jo thought she would too but she could not leave Ellie like that. When Ellie had found out that they had been thrown off a ship, she had almost panicked and wanted to come to Hawaii herself and look for them. Jo was glad that she had not succeeded in that task. She would have to go to her to assure her that she was okay although Tyler had gone to her to try and comfort her. Jo knew it was a long way and that was what made it so hard on Ellie is how far away she was. She looked at Mac. "I have to go to her, Mac," she said.

Mac nodded. "I know. I'll be alright and I'll see you when I get back there. Maybe you and Ellie can go somewhere together and have a good time."

"Maybe we can."

Mac took her hand in his. "Don't worry about me," he said. "I'll be alright."

Jo leaned on his shoulder. "I know."


End file.
